


Swift Ascension (2018 Remastered Edition)

by FuzzyBeta



Series: The Swift Chronicles [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Court of Owls, Drama, Earth-16 - Freeform, F/M, Multi, Mystery, Other, Secret Organizations, Superheroes, genomorphs, justice league - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 02:24:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 273,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15809403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuzzyBeta/pseuds/FuzzyBeta
Summary: Batman always knew that his second partner Swift was destined for greatness. But when a fire starts at Project CADMUS new mysteries emerge and dark secrets come out into the light. Will the Girl Wonder be able to rise to the new challenges? Or will they tear her team apart? And who are these mysterious shadows that keep following her every step? Kaldur/OC (REMASTERED, Rated T)





	1. Independence Day

**Author's Note:**

> The new official beginning of the Swift Chronicles. The reboot of 2013 version with major plot/pairing changes. All future fics of the series will be based upon this version so be sure to read it first before continuing to the sequel.

_**Wayne Manor, July 5, 10:00 am, EDT, 2016** _

Two young adults lay amongst tangled royal purple bed sheets, entwined in each other's arms.

The man slept soundly, his deep, steady breaths slightly muffled as he nuzzled into the back of the young woman's head. Her brown hair was soft and dark and even in his unconscious state of mind he pressed himself closer to her.

The girl chuckled softly to herself. She had been awake for almost an hour already, but she hadn't had the heart to move. For one thing, she was far too comfortable and warm, but also she wanted to enjoy her bed mate's company.

Her warm brown eyes wandered over the room. It was much the same as it had been since she'd first arrived at the Wayne manor all those years ago. Back then she'd just been a ten-year-old girl, thin and scrawny, who loved the colour purple and carried a plush toy bat. She spotted the said toy sitting on a beanbag next to an oak bookcase. It had a black bra flung onto it.

_Now how did that get there?_

But no sooner had she thought about it then all the memories from the last night came flooding back.

"Oh right," she muttered to no one in particular.

Blushing, she turned her attention to the bedside table closest to her on which several photographs stood framed. She reached for the closest one which had five teenagers, four boys and one girl, standing before a large building.

The tallest and oldest of the group was a Caucasian auburn-haired boy with a black domino mask covering his eyes. He dressed in a red tunic with matching tights with yellow gloves, boots, belt and quiver and Robin Hood style hat. He was frowning, his arms folded, being very uncooperative with the cameraman.

The second tallest was a lean boy with dark brown skin, high cheekbones, light blond hair, pale green eyes, eel tattoos over his arms and gills on the sides of his neck. He was wearing a skin-tight, full-bodied red and blue swimsuit with a black belt with an "A" symbol for a buckle. Like the redhead next to him he was standing in the back and folding his arms. However, he was wearing a polite smile that hid behind most of his excitement.

The boys and girl in front of them weren't even bothering to hold their excitement. The one on the right was a fifteen-year-old in a yellow and red suit with red goggles that sat on a mess of spiked red hair. His face was grinning with crumbs of food flying out of his mouth as he gripped a granola bar. His free hand draped over the shoulders of the thirteen-year-old girl that stood next to him on his right.

She was shortish for her age and was wearing a black bodysuit under a purple leotard. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a high bun, and her eyes were hidden behind a domino mask as well. She was giggling madly and leaning towards the boy on her right. Though mostly covered by a black and yellow cape he was sporting a cheeky grin as he appeared to whisper something into her ear. His jet-black hair was short but stylishly messed up, and though he too had a domino mask, she could imagine his eyes, bright blue orbs, twinkles with delight and happiness.

The young woman looking down on the photo could barely suppress a snort of amusement as she traced each of the boys faces affectionately, looking over her shoulder at the young man who was holding her as they lay, and her smile widened with warm affection.

And a  _lot_  had happened since  _that_  day, and yet it seemed like only yesterday...

* * *

_**Gotham City, July 4, 6:30 am EDT 2010** _

Bang!

"Good Morning Christine!" a young boy's voice boomed excitedly

A girl opened her doe brown eyes slowly, gazing up at the wooden ceiling of her four-poster bed. The covers, which were varying shades of purple with black pillowcases, crinkled more as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

She glared in the direction of the door where a blurry mass of pale skin, black hair and what seemed to be green and grey material stood in what appeared to be the doorway.

She huffed as she crashed back down on the bed and closed her eyes tight.

It had been four years since Christine Evelyn Hallows came to live with her godfather Bruce Wayne and his ward Richard "Dick" Grayson. Come Halloween, her birthday, and it would be four years since she became Batman and Robin's second partner, the Swift. And yet after all this time, Dick still hadn't learned the concept of having a lie in on a bloody morning!

It seemed as if her sleepy stubbornness would not deter her adoptive brother from his early morning mission. With a loud, jubilant cackle, he leapt onto the bed, ripped the covers off her and flung them to the floor.

"Dick" she groaned, her eyes still shut as she blindly reached for something to cover her up. Eventually, her hands found her rectangular black rimmed glasses on her bedside table. She sat up again as she jammed them onto her face as she looked at the boy sitting cross-legged on the other side of her bed.

"Good morning" he beamed showing off his perfectly straight white teeth. His black hair, she noticed, was messier than usual and many a cowlick were sticking at odd angles over his head.

"Dick…It's six in the morning."

"It's six thirty! But so, what?!" Dick's eyes seemed to sparkle like diamonds with his excitement as he bounced up and down in his spot. It was rather cute, like watching a little puppy play with a new toy, but Christine didn't care.

"So…why are you in my room at six  _thirty_  in the morning?"

" Because you needed to wake up!"

"Why?"

"Because today's the day!" Dick exclaimed loudly throwing his hands up into the air.

Christine looked blankly at him. She could almost see the fireworks, streamers and confetti materialise and explode around him. They were both thirteen, but sometimes Christine wondered if Dick's brain had been de-aged by a villain so he was permanantly stuck at age five.

"Nope, sorry. No can do" She sighed and let herself fall limply back onto her pillow.

"Come on; sleepy head get up!" Dick complained loudly, as he grabbed one of her arms and dragged her out of bed.

Christine was too tired to resist as he led her down through the large manor house. Four years of living with an excitable early bird like Dick you learnt to go with the flow.

They entered the kitchen where the old butler, Alfred, was busy cooking at the stove already dressed in his suit. Bruce was sitting at the little island counter in the middle reading the newspaper in his dark blue tartan print pyjamas. The two men smirked amusedly as Dick dragged his unfortunate, still half asleep victim into the room.

"Good Morning Alf! Bruce!" the Boy Wonder beamed, ignoring Christine's wince at his loud tones.

"Good Morning young Master Dick, Miss Christine!"

"M-M-Morning Alfred" Christine yawned behind her free hand before seating herself at Bruce's side.

"You're up early" Bruce chuckled taking in her very dishevelled appearance.

"Yeah well, didn't have much of choice did I?" Christine narrowed her eyes moodily at Dick who smirked back triumphantly across from her as he poured milk all over his cereal.

Bruce removed the puzzle section of his newspaper and placed it in front of his goddaughter, scowling as he caught sight of her T-shirt.

It was a light blue with a red Superman symbol on it.

"Like it? It's brand new" Christine snorted dryly at her guardian as she quickly tied her hair in a loose, messy bun, took a pen out of her pocket and tapped the first clue of the daily crossword.

_#01 Down - something attained through self-capability._

She tapped twelve letters and smiled widely as she neatly printed out.

_Independence_

* * *

_**Gotham City, July 4, 12:00 pm EDT, 2010** _

A family of three, a dad and his son and daughter were standing around a barbeque looking up at the shadowy form that loomed above them.

"Enjoying family time?" a cold half robotic voice said, before a blast of freezing air hurtled towards them, encasing them in ice.

"My family has other plans" Dr Freeze slid over the icy path he'd made for himself.

The civilians around him screamed as without any remorse he aimed his freeze ray at another bystander.

**Ting!**

The metallic clang reverberated around as a sharp black object hit Freeze's weapon. He stumbled a little and turned behind, following the projectile's path.

"Batman… I was wondering when…?"

But no one was there.

A boyish cackle followed by a soft eerie girlish giggle echoed in the silence. Freeze spun around looking for the source just as two figures hurtled towards him from the air.

There was a loud clunk of glass as a pair of black booted feet, and another pair of slender black gloved hands landed on the dome protecting Freeze's head. He hurtled forward crouching on his front as two sharp objects, one red and one purple, struck again at the dome cracking it.

He looked up glaring at his attackers who turned out to be a boy and a girl.

The boy was in a bodysuit with a red vest, short black sleeves and long black leggings, boots and gloves, a white stylized "R" symbol over his left pectoral. Overall of this, he wore a cape, black on the outside with yellow lining which matched the golden belt which had many pouches. His hair was short slightly messy and jet black.

The girl, on the other hand, was completely covered in a black bodysuit dark purple lines that abstractly contoured the shapes of her waist, her arms and her legs all of which connected at the Purple stylized hexagonal S insignia that was over her right pectoral. Over her neck and face, the suit had a black fitted cowl with a purple domino mask with wings on the sides and white lenses, while a dark grey cloth mask covered her mouth. A purple belt with her silver metal S, symbol, much like the boys hung around her waist matching a pair of garters just above her knees with similar pouches.

Both young teens smirked down at Freeze smugly.

"Oh…Boy and Girl Wonder" Freeze arose slowly, his anger mounting "The bat sent you two to drag me off to prison. Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

"Great but we're kind of in a hurry here," Robin said impatiently, and Swift shook her head.

_Typical._

Freeze's smirk widened as he loaded his weapon again.

"Kids…Always in such a rush. I prefer to preserve these moments…forever"

"Well, what do you know Frosty the Snowman just spilt some hot air." Swift drawled.

"Yeah, sorry Freeze, but we're not talking to you" Robin sighed as she caught sight of what appeared to be a giant black bat leap from the shadows behind Freeze.

The supervillain spun around, his eyes widening as Batman hurtled towards him.

Swift whistled under her breath as her mentor's fist stretched out and smashed into the protective glass dome. Freeze fell at his feet unconscious.

"Nice one boss," Swift said as she and Robin ran up to their mentor, who kicked Freeze's weapon across the ground towards them.

"Dismantle it quickly, " he said sternly.

The sidekicks nodded, as Swift took out a timer and Robin squatted down.

"Ok? 3. 2. 1 GO!" she pressed the start button. Robin's hands flew over the gun and bit by bit second by second taking it apart and placing the parts in small groups before stopping abruptly.

"59 seconds and 50 milliseconds" Swift grinned as he wiped his brow.

"So did I beat it or not?" he asked as he began bagging the pieces into smaller separate parts.

"By ten milliseconds" Swift grumbled as Robin whooped in delight.

"Robin! Swift! It's time." Batman called as he opened the door to the black Batmobile.

"I call Shotgun on the front seat" Robin bounded off ecstatically dragging Swift by the hand to the car.

"Take it by all means." Swift snorted as they hopped into their respective spots "everyone knows that the back seats are the better ones."

"Hah! You want to go back to sleep again don't you?"

"Damn straight I do!" she fastened her seatbelt and sunk into a more comfortable position. She pulled out the drinks bolster that doubled as the back of the middle seat and lay her head down.

"But your gonna miss out on the fun."

"It's a chance I'm willing to take" she closed her eyes as Batman turned on the ignition. The purr of the engine was soothing, and before long she was fast asleep.

"Killjoy" Dick pouted before grinning wickedly and pulling out his Wayne Tech phone. He turned around in his sleep.

"Dick, let her sleep " Batman droned, sounding more like an exasperated father than a terrifying vigilante.

"But she's…"

"It's a two-hour drive from here to Washington, so wait. Besides, if you want good photos wait till she starts snoring in ten minutes."

Robin snickered, and Batman allowed himself to smirk as he caught sight of Swift sleeping, blissfully unaware of her partner's next prank.

* * *

_**Washington D.C., July 4, 14:00 EDT, 2010** _

Batman, Robin and Swift stood before the large pool in front of the Hall of Justice, just as four people came out from behind some bushes, where, as Swift knew from hacking into the Bat Computer, a hidden Zeta tube stood.

The first she recognised was Green Arrow and Speedy.

"Hey GA! Speedy!" Robin waved cheerily. Swift pulled down her mouth covering as she too smiled and waved. Speedy gave a rare small smile of his own in return and nodded at them.

Swift then noticed the other two figures behind the archers, one she recognised to be Aquaman. He was tall and had a blond hair and beard. He was dressed in a stealth suit with an orange top and dark green leggings with a belt with an "A" Symbol on it.

"Greetings Batman" He greeted Batman and shook his hand before looking down on Robin and Swift and smiling.

"Greetings Robin, Swift. I see you two are faring well."

"Sure are." Robin grinned.

"Speak for yourself, I'm still tired" Swift mumbled as under her mask she glared at her partner.

Aquaman chuckled before standing aside and revealing a teenage boy. He was probably closer to Speedy's age and just as tall, with dark skin, light blond hair and pale green eyes. Like Aquaman he too wore a stealth suit with the "A" buckled belt; except his was a dark red at the top and navy at the bottom and was sleeveless revealing eel tattoos that twisted around each arm. On his back, he carried a strange black and silver backpack with two handles sticking out.

"This is my protégé, Aqualad."

Aqualad gave a small, slightly nervous smile to them. "It is an honour to meet you all at last"

He extended a hand and Swift shook giving him what she hoped was a warm and friendly smile. He had a kind face, one that put her at ease almost at once as she shook his webbed hand.

"It's an honour to meet you too, Aqualad. Aquaman speaks highly of you."

"Yeah! I hope we get to work with you soon" Robin added as he took his turn to shake the older boy's hand.

"Hey" Speedy nodded from his spot next to Green Arrow.

"Hey, yourself" Aqualad's smile seemed to relax as all four sidekicks went to stand, facing the Hall of Justice.

"Today's the day" Batman said, a small smile on his face as he put a hand on each of his protégé's shoulders.

"Welcome to the hall of Justice" Green Arrow grinned.

"Headquarters of the Justice League" Aquaman added.

"Aww man!" the voice of another teenage boy wafted over to where they stood.

A loud grinding of dirt and fast feet screeched behind them, and they all turned to see a man in a red suit halt to a stop, followed by a fifteen-year-old in yellow and red.

"I knew we'd be the last ones here" the boy complained then he spotted Speedy, Robin and Swift.

Kid Flash sped over to the other teenagers.

"Hey dudes! Babe" he winked at Swift giving her a mock bow.

"Hello Kid" she smiled amusedly as she saw Robin's eye roll behind Kid Flash's back.

"So, who's the new guy," Kid Flash asked, taking out a granola bar as he looked up at Aqualad who bowed and introduced himself.

"Hope we aren't too late?" said Flash to the other mentors who nodded as Green Arrow took a small camera out of a pocket.

"Alright kids let's get a group shot!" he called to all the sidekicks who all turned.

"Don't call me a kid?" Speedy said grumpily folding his arms.

"Oh, Speedy don't be such a sourpuss!" his mentor chastised him playfully.

Batman stood a small smile barely visible on his face as he watched his two sidekicks jostle for position in the group photo. They were growing up so fast. It seemed only yesterday he was teaching them both the basics of his crime-fighting and now he was introducing them as potential candidates for the Justice League. He was proud.

He allowed Green Arrow to take several photos, even a silly one where Robin and Kid Flash both pulled grotesquely funny faces which made Swift standing between them give a very unladylike snort, before calling out to them all to start making their way towards the Hall.

Swift smirked, pulling her mouth mask up as they came towards the steps was a small group of the Paparazzi, and the public that had gathered around a path made for the heroes.

Just as they were about to step onto the path a soft something flew across their way. It was a soft brown teddy bear. Swift hurried to pick it up and handed it to the little girl who had dropped it. She had light brown hair and big dark eyes filled with wonder as she gazed up at Swift before smiling shyly and mumbling.

"Thank you, Miss Swift."

"No problem. Now you be careful alright?" Swift nodded, smiling under her mask as she patted the little girl's head.

Aqualad smiled at the sweet sight, only to wince as Speedy elbowed him with a smirk.

"Told you you'd like her."

"Teasing him already Speedy?" Christine shook her head as Aqualad chuckled at the red archer.

"It's alright. We know one another quite well, so I'm used to it."

"Thank god for that. The last thing we need is to be picking up evidence of a crime scene here on the front steps of the Hall of Justice" Kid Flash, and Robin both sniggered as Speedy pouted.

"What? I'm kidding," he mumbled grumpily folding his arms.

Many cameras flashed and whirred in their direction, and many voices talked loudly.

_"Is that Batman?"_

_"I see Flash and Flash Jr!"_

_"His name's Speedy,"_

_"No! Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick!"_

_"Well, that makes no sense."_

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow said to the sidekicks.

"Born that way!"

Swift smiled. Even Speedy, the moodiest teen she knew couldn't control his excitement at this moment.

"I'm glad we're all here" Aqualad agreed.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash said excitedly, but Speedy cut across him his moodiness back.

" **Don't**  call us sidekicks! Not after today."

"Sorry. First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed" Kid Flash apologised

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" Robin huffed as they climbed up the stairs.

Kid Flash gave Swift a look that said quite plainly

_What the hell is up his butt now?_

Swift just shrugged as they went through the front doors before pointing up at the giant Bronze statues of the founding members of the Justice League.

"Oh, maybe that's why."

"Ya think?" Swift raised her eyebrows as they walked towards a metal doorway with a sign that read in big bold letters. "AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY"

It opened just as they approached it, revealing two caped figures. One was a red android with a yellow "T" on his chest, Red Tornado in and the other was green-skinned with a bald head wearing a black suit with a red X across his chest, Martian Manhunter. It was he who spoke first.

"Robin, Swift, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome." He turned around. Robin and Kid Flash fist-pumped as they all followed Manhunter down the length of a long hallway.

"You now have unlimited access to our Gym, our fully stocked galley and of course our library. He finished as they walked through another pair of metal doors into a large room lined with bookcases. At the far end of the room were seats and a giant computer.

"Make yourselves at home," said Flash.

Swift curiously went to a random bookcase and pulled out a book which turned out to be an illustrated botanical encyclopedia. She returned to the seated area to find Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad already comfortably seated in chairs. Speedy was the only one standing, arms folded and watching the adults who stood in front of another doorway. Swift sat herself down on the arm of Robin's chair and began flicking through the pages.

Her eyes looked over a page with the illustration of an extremely rare variety of an exotic orchid. She scowled as a memory of beating Poison Ivy last week came to the forefront of her mind. It had been a tough night, especially since she had had to help knock some sense into Robin when the green-thumbed temptress had trapped him with her powerful pheromones.

_Thank God Ivy's pheromones only work on men-_

"That's it!" Speedy's cry of indignation startled her so much that she fell backwards into Robin's lap her calves still hanging off the edge of the arm she'd been sitting on. Robin didn't help her but like the others were staring at Speedy, who Swift now saw, from upside down, was standing in front of the adult Leaguers, his posture demonstrating a lot of pent-up rage.

"You promised us a real look inside. Not a glorified Backstage pass."

"It's the first step. You've been granted access few others get" Aquaman said calmly. But his calm only seemed to aggravate Speedy further.

"Oh Really?!" he gestured towards the glass windows high above them where some members of the public were watching them. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy you just need to be patient" Green Arrow took Aquaman's example and tried to stay calm, but Speedy just cut across him too.

"What I need is  ** _respect_**!" he turned to look at the other teens, just as Swift straightened up still on Robin's lap as he pulled his arms around her waist and put his chin on her shoulder.

"They're treating us like kids. Worse. Like sidekicks! We deserve better than this."

Swift sat up on the arm of the chair again as she, Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad all exchanged puzzled looks before looking back at their comrade.

"You're kidding right?" he questioned dumbfounded "you're playing their game. Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be  _the_ day. Step one to becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

"Well sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ?" Kid Flash cautiously tested the waters as Aqualad nodded in agreement. Robin and Swift kept silent exchanging a glance between themselves and Batman.

They had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"Except the Hall isn't the Leagues real HQ."

Swift saw Robin's jaw stiffen as they kept listening to Speedy's rant. "I bet they never told you; it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zeta beam teleporter tubes to the real thing. An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Swift almost shuddered. She could feel Batman's intense glare even from this distance. Green Arrow could too, because he turned around to face the Bat who folded his arms.

"I know, I know. But I thought maybe we could make an exception?"

But the white slits in the black cowl narrowed dangerously, and the green-clad hero faltered.

"Or not…"

Meanwhile at the front Aquaman took a few steps forward towards Speedy "You are not helping your cause here son. Stand down or-"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his." Speedy turned to Green Arrow glaring. "I thought I was his partner" he added quietly.

"But not anymore."

Swift saw as if in slow motion the yellow hat with the red feather fall to the ground with a soft thump before Speedy turned on his heel away from the adults and faced the teens.

Swift stood up, and Speedy looked at her hopefully. But she gave a minute shake of the head, and his face hardened. He glared at the others as the stood up as he passed them.

"Guess they were right about you four. " he gave Swift one last look, a mixture of anger and melancholy "You're not ready!"

"Speedy-Roy! Roy wait!" she reached out to grab his arm, only to get shoved off roughly.

"Roy…" She sounded on the edge of tears, but he had already disappeared through the doors which closed behind him with a snap.

Speedy wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but he had always gotten along best with Swift. Though occasionally mischievous, she was usually more level-headed, and could handle his hot temper better than most, even Kid Flash and Robin. Most often, he'd always attempt to listen to her when he was in such a state. Today…

Robin and Kid Flash came up behind the very hurt Swift, each putting a warm, comforting hand on her shoulders as they glared at the doors their friend had just left through.

He might've had a temper, but for Speedy to be that cold with her was a very low blow, even by his surly standards.

A beeping sound distracted them, and they turned around to see Superman's face on the large computer screens.

"Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus." Batman said as he and the other Leaguers walked over to the machine "This will present the perfect opportunity to-"

"Zatara to Justice League" Batman was cut off by an Italian sounding voice as a smaller screen with a man in black tails and top hat overlapped Superman's image. "The sorcerer Wontan is using the Amulet of Aten to Blot out the sun. Requesting full League response."

"Superman?" Batman looked up at the Man of Steel's cool image.

"It's a small fire; local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait. All-Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out." Batman clicked the screen off just as Swift, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash walked up behind them, ready for action. He turned around to face them.

"Stay put." He said quickly.

"What! Why?" Robin sounded shocked.

"This is a League mission." Aquaman looked down at the teenagers sternly.

"You're not trained-" Flash added, but his sidekick exclaimed.

"Since when?!"

"I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team." Flash gestured towards Batman and Aquaman as the latter said.

"There will be other missions. When you're ready."

"But for now,  _stay put_." Batman narrowed his eyes particularly hard at Robin before glancing briefly at Swift.

She was looking down at the carpet fiddling with her hands. Roy's parting had upset her it seemed. He felt his gut flare hotly.

If ever he met that boy again he would strike him he wouldn't know whether he was coming or going. He glanced back at Robin as if to say wordlessly.

_"Keep an eye on her."_

Robin glanced back. He still seemed pissed off at being left behind, but he nodded anyway.

Swift looked back up and gave Batman a small smile. "Good luck, boss."

Batman nodded, allowing the briefest of comforting smiles to flash across his face as he turned and left with the others.

The four teenagers stood in silence for a few moments.

Kid Flash was the first to crack.

"When we're ready?! How are we ever supposed to be ready if they treat us like-like-"

"Sidekicks?" Swift provided her voice low and bitter now.

"Yeah!" Kid Flash cried out angrily.

"My mentor…my King…I thought he trusted me" Aqualad also sounded somewhat miffed at their circumstances.

"Trust? Trust! They don't even trust us with the basics. They have a secret HQ in SPACE!" Kid Flash waved his arms around reminding Swift of a helicopter. The ghost of a smile appeared, but it was quickly removed when Robin spoke up.

"I have a better question. Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

There was another pause as everyone looked back down at the floor. Finally, Aqualad spoke.

"What is… Project Cadmus?"

"Dunno" Robin shrugged a sly smile creeping over his face as he prepped the blue interface holo-computer built into his glove "But we can find out."

He waggled his eyebrows at Swift.

"We're going to get in so much trouble for this" she sighed heavily as she pulled up her holographic computer with a purple interface from her glove.

"Why what are you gonna do?" Kid Flash folded his arms as the female computer voice from before said in a dry monotone.

_"Access Denied"_

"Not for long" Swift snorted as she and Robin began typing again.

"Whoa" Kid Flash's jaw almost dropped as the data streams began unravelling before their very eyes. "How are you doing that?"

"The same system, as the Batcave" Robin cackled softly

"Impressive, if a bit unorthodox" Aqualad's eyebrows rose at Swift who shrugged and smirked.

"Yeah well, you can't call yourself a vigilante if you play by the book, can you?"

"I suppose not" the Atlantean teen smirked back.

"Hey-hey, less talking more hacking" Robin hissed, sparing Aqualad a short suspicious glower much to Kid Flash's amusement.

"You think this is impressive? You should see them when they work with Batman on a case. Then they become unbearable."

"Kid you're just jealous because you don't have a partner-" Robin grinned turning to his partner, whose smirk widened as she said:

"-To finish your sentences for you."

"See what I mean" Kid flash pouted folding his arms as the female computer voice sounded again.

_"Access granted."_

The two hackers straightened up triumphantly grinning.

"Project Cadmus…genetics lab…here in D.C."

"Hang on! That's all there is? That can't be right." Swift scowled the rather small amount of data they had collected.

"But if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate" Robin's smirk grew.

"What, you mean we solve their case before they do?" Swift scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"That would be poetic justice" Aqualad agreed.

"Hey, they're all about justice" Robin put his hands on his hips and faced the older boy who sighed.

"But they said to stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this" Robin explained excitedly.

"Wonder Boy's got a point" Swift folded her arms as she disconnected from the computer.

"Wait" Kid Flash suddenly grinned with growing understanding "are you both going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going"

The two younger boys both turned around and grinned up at Aqualad oh so innocently. Swift sighed as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at the two of them fondly.

"Just like that?" Aqualad questioned. "We're a team on a mission."

"That sounds about right," Swift smirked folding her arms

"Besides we didn't come for a play date."

Aqualad smiled.

* * *

The black batmobile pulled over into a small alleyway and four teenagers stepped out. Or more correctly, three of them stepped out and one fell over out of one of the back seats.

"When I get a car of my own, remind me never to allow you to drive it!" Kid Flash said glaring up from the ground at Swift who rolled her eyes as she gracefully hopped out of the driver's seat.

"Oh, relax it wasn't  **that**  bad."

" _Wasn't that bad_?" Kid Flash snorted "We almost hit five fire hydrants!"

"Would you stop complaining and get up. Besides Robin and Aqualad seem alright" Swift exchanged a grin with Robin who cackled as he helped his friend up to his feet. Aqualad was up ahead looking around the corner of the alleyway and down the road.

A building stood. Between three to four stories high and it was smoking. The fire department was already there, but they seemed to have trouble getting the inhabitants to safety.

"There are two scientists trapped on the second floor." He said as the other's caught up with him.

"On it!" Kid Flash cried out excitedly

"Kid wait! ARGH!" Swift growled, but the speedster rushed on ahead. The second floor of the building exploded, and the two scientists began falling. Kid zoomed up the side of the building and forced the two scientists on the roof before falling backwards. He managed to catch himself in time on a window of the second story.

"It's what's his name, Flash Boy!" one of the firefighters called out.

"Kid Flash! Why is that so hard?" the speedster grumbled.

"So smooth" Robin's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Does he always have to run ahead? We need a plan. We… Robin?" Aqualad looked around as Swift pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"For heaven's sake, not again." she groaned as her partner's famous cackle echoed all around them. Then she spotted him running over the fire truck before jumping through the window on his grapple gun and helping Kid Flash climb through.

Swift and Aqualad shared a brief nod before running ahead. Swift launched her grapple gun to the top of the fire truck's extended ladder, just as Aqualad ran over to the two firefighters with the hydrant.

"I need to borrow that!" he demanded.

As she swung upwards, Swift looked on as Aqualad took the two handles from the pack on his back and his tattoos glowed bright blue. She jumped through the window and watched in awe as he took the water from the fire hydrant and created a swirling platform which he used to lower the two scientists to the ground before joining them at the window.

"Cool trick!" she said as he jumped through.

"Atlantean Sorcery" he smirked a little before straightening up and looking at Robin who was typing away at a tiny computer.

"Appreciate the help," he said sarcastically, but Robin just grinned.

"You handled it, besides we're here to investigate. Poetic justice remember?"

"That's strange…" Swift's soft voice sounded curious.

"What is it, Swift?" Aqualad walked up to Swift who had stepped over to a doorway leading to a hallway at the end of which was an elevator.

"I don't know…" she squinted in the half-light.

While the boys had been talking a metallic beeping had caught her ears, and she was peering around the corner just as a strange figure walked into the elevator.

It seemed to be humanoid, but even from a distance, she could see two long horns on its head.

She looked up at Aqualad whose head was above hers also looking through the doors of the elevator as they closed on the creature.

They both stepped out of their hiding place, Robin peering up from the computer as he finished downloading the files he'd stolen.

"There was something in the-" Aqualad began, but Kid Flash interrupted him

"Elevators should be locked down."

Robin rushed ahead and tapped the up and down buttons before staring at the doors.

"This is wrong" he muttered pulling up his holographic computer in his glove. It quickly scanned the lift before pulling up a match on the database.

"Thought so this is a high-speed express elevator."

"But…this doesn't belong in a two-story building" Swift narrowed her eyes at the screen.

"Neither does what we saw" Aqualad agreed before walking over to the lift doors and wrenching them apart.

Swift ran forward and peered under his outstretched arms.

"And that's why they need an express elevator" she looked down the shaft. It was very deep. She couldn't even see the bottom. Robin appeared by her side nodding at her as he aimed his grappling gun at the roof. She only just managed to put her arms around his neck and hold onto him as they leapt off together hurtling down the shaft.

_Sub 21, Sub 22, Sub 23_

Swift counted the floors in her head until they came to a jerky stop in front of Sublevel 26. She looked at Robin.

"I'm at the end of my rope" he explained slightly sheepishly. Together they swung onto the narrow landing. They were followed shortly by Aqualad and Kid Flash, the latter needing Swift and Aqualad's help to steady himself as Robin bypassed security. Once again Aqualad wrenched open the doors, and they stepped all through.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin said quietly. They looked around cautiously.

It was nothing like the floors above. It seemed that they had walked into a kind of warehouse which was bathed in a dim reddish light.

A whoosh came from behind Swift as she turned to see Kid Flash running off.

"Wait" Aqualad whispered urgently.

"Seriously? Again?" Swift groaned as they all sped up to follow Kid's path. They ran down several rows and until they could see a much broader pathway up ahead.

But it was blocked. Blocked by gigantic mammoth sized monsters walking on all fours across their paths.

"No. Nothing odd going on here."

Swift heard Aqualad, but his voice seemed quite distant to her as she watched the procession pass them by.

The big mammoth-like creatures were grey-skinned and red-eyed and seemed to have large tusks growing out of their mouths. Smaller similar creatures which resembled monkeys, except for the fact they had little horns on their heads, sat upon them. One of them turned and caught sight of them. Its little horns glowed red.

_Huh? What the…what the hell?_

She raised a hand to her temple as something flashed over her mind's eye. It was hazy and fuzzy, yet she could discern a similar small impish shape amidst the shadows. It too seemed to have glowing red horns.

That light. So red and eerie…and yet so…familiar?

_Just what is going on?_

She felt something tugging on her shoulder and turned to see Robin staring at her worriedly.

"Come on; we got to keep moving."

"Right…of course." Swift murmured as she let herself be dragged away from the colossal spectacle and back into the darkness of the corridors.

After a couple more doors were hacked through, they finally found another open space.

"Ok, I'm officially whelmed" Robin's eyes widened. They had entered a room in which rows upon rows of alien-like creatures glowed blue as they produced surges of blue electricity.

The crackling and buzzing sound hummed all around them as they walked past them.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world" Kid Flash said with dawning understanding "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its power with these… things. Must be what they're bred for."

"Of course even the name is a clue. The Cadmus of myth created a new race."

"By sewing dragon's teeth into the earth…right?" Swift finished for him. Aqualad nodded.

"And this Cadmus creates new life too." Robin knelt and plugged in his holo-computer into another machine close by. "Let's find out why" he waited for a few moments until finally, the info popped up.

"Be careful Rob; you don't know what alarms they may have installed to protect this place." Swift gulped, her eyes fixed nervously on the crackling creatures before them.

"They call them Genomorphs." Robin murmured as he got through the various firewalls and started pouring over the new data "Whoa! Look at the stats of these things. Super strength, telepathy, razor claws? These are living weapons!"

"Their engineering an army" Kid Flash said unusually grave "But for who" he looked at Swift who was looking at the data over Robin's shoulder.

"Wait there's something else. There! Project K-R?" she pointed to a point on the screen as Aqualad came over to look at it too.

Robin began typing, but it seemed to take forever, by his standard.

"What's going on?" Swift asked concerned

"Arghh! The file's triple encrypted" he grumbled annoyed at the screen "I- I can't-"

"Don't move!" came a harsh male voice from the other end of the room.

"Crap" Swift jumped in alarm reaching into her utility belt where she grabbed a couple of smoke pellets. As she did so a man in a blue and black uniform with a golden helmet ran into the room surrounded by more of the genomorph creatures.

He came to a halt when he saw who they were.

"Wait. Robin, Swift, Aqualad…Kid Flash?"

"at least he got your name right" Robin smirked. Swift elbowed him as she straightened up.

"I know you" Aqualad looked at the man calmly "Guardian… a hero"

"I do my best," he said looking at all of them gravely.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash cried out.

"I think that's my question kids. I'm chief of security. You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League."

Swift tightened her hold on her smoke pellets as she gave Robin a look.

_Be prepared to run and fight._

She wordlessly said as Kid Flash remonstrated with the older hero about his involvement with Cadmus's building weapons.

She caught a flash of red as the little genomorph on Guardian's shoulder made its horns glow red.

_Come on! Hurry up, Robin!_

Robin glared at the screen as if willing it to go faster.

"Take 'em down hard! No mercy!" Guardian yelled. The Genomorphs leapt forward, and Swift threw down her smoke pellets.

Robin went on ahead to the doors. The creatures attacked as the smoke cleared around them. Swift managed to knock away a few but then caught sight of Guardian running towards her. She parried his attacks, using her speed and flexibility to dodge many of his attacks.

Swift knew she wasn't the strongest of people. Her petite size and lack of brute strength had always made her a prime target for the stronger enemies she'd faced.

Not like her mentor Batman. He was the heavyweight, capable of taking down the big guns using his strength and size. Robin was a distraction. His loud personality and quick movements were great for distracting the goons. Swift was the quiet one. Small, fast and silent she was capable of slinking around the enemy and using her skills to quietly unravel the villain's plans without their noticing whether it be disabling a weapon or freeing hostages.

A genomorph lunged at her, and she ducked, but it distracted her long enough allowing Guardian to land a hit in her ribs.

She fell backwards, and the genomorphs began piling on top of her pinning her to the ground. She struggled amongst them and winced as one bit her upper arm.

She cried out in pain before throwing it off. But as soon as she saw it hit the wall then two, no,  **three**  more pounced on the spot it had left open.

She heard a thud as Aqualad threw a defeated Guardian away from him. Soon after a blur of Yellow and red knocked all the genomorphs off her as Kid Flash picked her up bridal style and rushed towards the door where Robin was still trying to hack it.

"Way to be a team player Rob!" he snarled.

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin asked as he continued hacking.

"Hey-Hey boys save it for the honeymoon we've got incoming!" Swift cried out, looking over Kid Flash's shoulder to watch as Aqualad ran towards them pursued by more genomorphs.

The light on the door turned green, and the doors opened. They rushed inside Aqualad only just making it through as the doors shut closed behind him.

Swift felt her feet hit the ground and she pulled out a bandage from a pouch in her belt. She began wrapping her bleeding arm, but Kid Flash took it from her and began covering it for her.

"Thanks, KF" she panted wiping sweat from her face.

"No problem babe." Kid Flash sighed tiredly "Man the thing that did this seriously has a nasty bite!"

"We're going down?" Aqualad narrowed his eyes at Robin.

"Dude out is  _up_!" Kid said as he finished tying the bandage.

"Excuse me Project K.R. it's  _down_  on sublevel 52."

"Robin!" Swift nearly face palmed.

"This is out of control" Aqualad leaned against the wall "Perhaps…Perhaps we should contact the League."

But no sooner had he finished speaking then the elevator beeped, and the doors opened onto the strangest sight yet. They seemed to be in a cave-like area with red slimy things growing out of the wall.

"Well we are already here" Kid Flash shrugged following suit as Robin rushed on ahead.

"I suppose I should expect more of this reckless behaviour if I'm going to be hanging out with you three more often" Aqualad looked towards Swift who gave him a wry smile.

"Yep. Welcome to my world" Swift smirked, only to wince as her bitten shoulder throbbed painfully.

He then looked at her arm, but before he could say anything, she waved him off following the other two boys.

"It's nice of you to worry but don't trust me I've had far worse."

Aqualad sighed deeply before hurrying behind her.

Eventually, they all reached a crossroads. They all crouched behind some canisters in their way.

"Which way?" Aqualad sounded very annoyed now.

Swift couldn't blame him. He'd only just met them all, and already he was being led in irritating circles of insanity. She was quite impressed he hadn't exploded yet.

"Yeah, bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two" Robin pointed at the crossroads birdarang in hand.

"HOLD!" a strange voice commanded.

Swift gasped as the strange horned creature from upstairs walked into view. She now saw that he was another Genomorph except unlike his fellow creatures he was humanoid, seemed capable of verbal speech and wore a white uniform. She didn't have time to think this through though as she saw his eyes and horns glow red and his hand raised.

Almost instantly, the canisters in front of him lifted into the air and hurtled across towards them. "GO NOW! I'll hold him off!" Robin pushed Swift behind him towards Aqualad and Kid Flash, and he threw the birdarang in his hand towards the creature. Another group of canisters came hurtling their way, and they all ran down the left corridor.

They came into another corridor at the end of which was a door.

"Hurry!" Kid Flash said as he wedged the door with a cylinder before darting in. Robin went next dragging Swift behind him, and she was followed by Aqualad who used his strength to kick the barrel out closing the door before the genomorphs could even arrive.

Swift leaned on the wall next to the computer Robin was working on as he announced that he'd disabled the door. She looked up in time to see him finish.

"We're safe."

"We're trapped" Aqualad deadpanned.

"We're safe; we're trapped. Tomato, To-mah-to. What difference does it make? We're all stuck here!" she took a deep breath before straightening up.

"err…guys!" Kid Flash's voice echoed from another computer. "You'll wanna see this"

The others looked up and walked over to him just as whatever was behind the computer lit up.

Their eyes bulged in their sockets.

A large glass case stood in front of them; the symbol Kr printed I dark grey. And inside it was a boy. He was probably sixteen years old at most, dark-haired and wearing a bright white suit with a very familiar red S symbol. He seemed to be asleep for his eyes were closed, and he didn't move.

Kid Flash was the first to recover. He walked around the computer to stand in front of the glass. Swift meanwhile merely stared at the guy in the pod a million questions whirling around her head.

"Big K little R the atomic symbol for Krypton."

"Is he a clone?" Swift asked narrowing her eyes as she gazed at the red "S".

"Robin hack" Aqualad ordered.

"Oh! Uh…Right…right" Robin finally snapped out of his shock and began to hack fast.

"Weapon designation Superboy." Robin read aloud from his holo-screen "a clone force grown in-Sixteen weeks?!"

"SIXTEEN WEEKS?" Swift yelled right into her partner's ear.

"Sorry." She mumbled as he winced, before reading "from DNA acquired from Superman"

" _Stolen_  from Superman." Aqualad narrowed his eyes at the data.

"No way the big guy knows about this" Kid Flash added.

"Gnah! You think?" Swift raised her eyebrows at Kid Flash who glared at her.

"Hey don't get all huffy with me, I'm just saying-"

"Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four seven!" Robin steamrolled over the two before an argument could break out.

"And these things?" Swift pointed to the strange critters in bulbs above the super clone's head.

"Genomorph gnomes. Telepathic" Robin explained as he examined the readings.

"They must be force feeding him an education and heaven knows what else" she glanced back at the real-life pod and the boy's face.

"They're making a slave out of …well…" Kid Flash paused for a moment trying to find the right phrase "Superman's … son"

" **Now**  we contact the League" Aqualad stated. They all nodded each trying their separate ways of communicating.

Swift tapped her com hidden on the sides of her cowl, just next to her ear but she could get no signal.

"Nothing" she sighed.

"No signal" Robin added.

"We're in too deep" Kid Flash sighed too.

"Literally" she nodded.

They paused for a long moment turning to look at the clone in his pod. He seemed entirely peaceful fast asleep utterly unaware of the fact that he was to be used as a weapon for war.

"This is wrong" Kid Flash turned to face them all.

Robin nodded in agreement. "We can't leave him like this"

Swift kept her eyes on the pod as the Genomorphs horns glowed.

"Set him free" She heard Aqualad order "do it!"

Robin clicked a few more buttons, and the pod door opened.

They held their breath, watching as a finger twitched. Then his eyes flew open. Within the blink of an eye, he rushed them all, pinning Aqualad to the ground hitting him repeatedly.

Swift, Robin and Kid Flashed all rushed to grab the boys flailing limbs before they could do any more damage. In the commotion, Swift got hit in the jaw and flew backwards into a wall.

"Hang on Supey"

"We're on your side!" but Robin and Kid Flash had barely any luck in holding the clone down.

"KID LOOK OUT" Swift cried out but too late.

The speedster flew into a glass tube and landed on the floor unconscious. Swift rushed forwards just as Robin cried out.

"I don't wanna have to do this!" before trying to blast a gas pellet in the clone's face. He stumbled backwards, and Robin and Swift both took out their tasers and aimed for his chest. They hit, but the small current was useless. The Clone's skin must have been invulnerable too.

He tugged on the cords. Swift quickly let go of hers and was not pulled forwards, but Robin wasn't so lucky. The Clone shoved him into the ground before crunching his foot on Robin's chest.

"ENOUGH!" Aqualad's voice rang out as he summoned a blue hammer made of water and delivered a powerful strike to the Clone's jaw. It seemed to work, and the super clone was slammed back into his pod.

"Robin!" Swift cried out as she and Aqualad ran to Robin's side. Robin sat up briefly but then fell back again, exhausted from the effort.

Swift looked up. The Clone was advancing, his blue eyes wild and feral as he loomed over them.

"Aqualad," she said timidly. They both stood up, Aqualad pushing Swift behind him in a protective stance. He shoved his palm out and clone paused.

"We are trying to help you," he said keeping himself directly in front of Swift and her fallen partner.

But words didn't seem to have any effect on the boy in front who lunged again at Aqualad and Swift. They both dodged. Swift was about to step in to help him, but Aqualad yelled:

"No Swift stay back! Get the-" but he was cut off as the clone punched at him again.

The two fought for a while, and finally, Aqualad seemed to get the upper hand. He grabbed the clone from behind around the shoulders, and his eel tattoos glowed again, producing blue pulses of electricity.

But the clone it transpired was much smarter than they gave him credit for. He leapt high in the air crushing Aqualad against the roof, before landing on the ground. He repeated the action several times until Aqualad finally lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

All the while Swift had been rooted to the spot in fear, but now the clone turned to face her.

"Wait! Wait! Hold on! I surrender!" She called out, slowly putting both hands up palms facing outwards.

The clone paused dark brow furrowing as he watched her wave her empty hands.

"See? I surrender" her heart was pounding as she took a step backwards, "Look I've got no weapons, no fists. I'm not going to hurt you, I mean I could try, but I'd get nowhere because, ha, let's face it I'm not that strong so…haha…yeah, now I'm rambling…he-he…"

She laughed nervously as she backed further away, gulping as her back hit the stone wall.

The clone tilted his head at her, his anger seeming to dim down a little as he examined her with curious eyes, which seemed to turn purple as a red light filled the room.

Christine turned to face the source of the odd light, and saw once again, that the genomorphs atop of his pod, were all staring at her, their horns all a bright red.

"Crap" she muttered, wincing as she saw the punch approaching her super-fast through the corner of her eye.

There was a heavy thud, searing pain and her vision went pitch black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it. Chapter 1 of the Swift Ascension reboot is up. Apart from word editing, not too many major changes to be seen plotwise in this chapter because I was anyways always quite happy with the first two chapters in the original. Once we pass the first two eps you'll probably start seeing more of the major changes I talked about.
> 
> So, Swift's original outfit has been changed. The purple leotard just wasn't working for me anymore, plus I've kinda been watching Batman Beyond again and I always dug the simplicity of Terry's Batsuit, (simple black with a red bat). Because of that I kinda modelled swift's new look on that. Also, I figured it'd fit in better with her role as a stealth agent if her costume was mostly black and didn't reveal any of her face (because let's face it, domino masks don't really hide much do they?)
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed and please review for more.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta.


	2. Fireworks

_**Project Cadmus Washington D.C., July 5, 00:01 EDT, 2010** _

_Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken NOW!_

Swift gasped her eyes shooting open. She choked and spluttered as she caught sight of Kid Flash and Aqualad on her left. She turned and saw Robin on her right.

They all were hanging by their wrists in transparent pods of their own now. Swift tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't budge. They, like her wrists, were shackled too.

As she looked up, she caught the gaze of two eyes looking at her. She started.

It was the Superman Clone. He was standing in front of all their pods stock still, almost soldier-like. His eyes, which Swift noticed for the first time, were blue. Not the light sparkling light blue of Robin's eyes, but more profound, like a turbulent ocean swirling with anxious thoughts as he glared up at them. She wondered vaguely if he was capable of speech.

Swift opened her mouth to strike up a conversation, but at that moment Kid Flash burst out angrily.

"What? What do you want?"

_I see KF, is as tactful as ever._

Swift scowled, only noticing that her grey mouth mask had been pulled down, but the clone just kept staring at them blankly.

"Quit staring you're creeping me out!" Kid yelled again.

"Uh…KF…how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Robin hissed.

The clone, however, didn't respond.

The four detainees exchanged glances. Robin's gaze was especially worried as he eyed her exposed cheek where a magnificent purple-black bruise was blossoming.

"You alright?" Swift muttered in response to his silent question.

"I've been better. You?" Robin grunted, not noticing Aqualad and Kid Flash pricking their ears to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Mostly alright, but my face has seen better days" she gave him a tired smile, but Robin still looked concerned.

She sighed heavily with a grimace.

"Robin how many times do I have to remind you I'm not one of your damsels in distress. We'll get out of here. We always do…eventually."

"Do you both often get into trouble like this?" Aqualad grunted as he struggled against his bonds.

"Let's say this isn't the first time my hands have been tied up like this. Oh yeah, that's real mature guys." she scowled, cheeks flushing pink as Kid Flash and Robin both began sniggering wickedly.

Through the corner of her eye, she saw the super clone tilt his head in confusion at the four of them. Catching sight of his expression, Aqualad turned to face him again, his voice calm.

"We only sought to help you."

"Yeah. We free you, and you turn on us. How's that for gratitu-" but Swift cut across Kid Flash.

"Oh KF knock it off! Superboy is a victim here just as much as the rest of us!"

"What?!" the speedster glared at her angrily "I can't believe it! You're taking  **his**  side? After he kicked our butts. Are you crazy?"

"Well at least she ain't stupid" Robin muttered under his breath, and Kid Flash's nostrils flared.

"HEY! I Heard that!"

"Kid, Robin please be quiet now" Aqualad's voice cut between them sharply. It wasn't a shout, but it shut them up all the same "Swift is quite right. I too believe that our new friend was not in full control of his actions."

Swift sighed in relief as both she and Robin flicked out their lockpicks from their gloves silently. If they could just keep the clone distracted long enough maybe they could-

"What if…what if I wasn't?"

Swift stilled where she hung, as did everyone else as they watched the last phenome escape the clone's lips.

"He can talk!" Kid Flash's jaw almost dropped in amazement.

The clone's fist clenched angrily. "Yes… **he**  can!"

Kid looked around sheepishly. "It's not like I said it."

"The genomorph's taught you, telepathically?" Aqualad asked intrigued.

"They taught me much." The clone replied quietly looking down at the floor. "I can read…write…I know the names of things."

Behind the domino mask, Swift looked down on him with pity.

He may have looked like a tanked-up teenager, but he still had the innocent expressions of a small child. He was confused and angry with a world that he could barely understand. This was probably the first time he'd ever been out of his pod. The first time he'd ever come face to face with other people and from the slightly raspy sound of his voice the first time he had probably ever talked at all.

"But have you  _seen_  them?" She asked quietly "Have they ever actually let you see the sky…"

"Or the sun?" Robin finished for her.

"Images are implanted in my mind but no…I have not seen them" Swift finally heard it, the longing in his voice. Out of the recesses of his primitive like mind, a sense of consciousness was beginning to emerge. The Clone's voice was slowly losing the hoarseness and was instead being replaced with emotion. This was a good sign.

The other's seemed to sense this too as Aqualad asked.

"Do you know what you are? Who you are?"

"I am the Superboy. A genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish. To destroy him should he turn from the light."

_Two steps forward one step back!_

Swift resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"To be like Superman is…a worthy aspiration" Aqualad sounded like he was carefully treading over very hot coals. "But like Superman you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus."

"I live because of Cadmus" the clone, Superboy, cried out angrily "It is my home!"

"Your home is a test tube" Robin frowned. " **We**  can show  **you**  the sun."

"Not to mention, the clouds and the sky, and a whole lot of other cool things too," Swift added, wincing as her head began throbbing painfully.

"Err…I'm pretty sure it's after midnight" Kid Flash deadpanned but double tracked when he caught Swift's nasty glare "…but we can show you the moon" he quickly added nervously.

"We can show you…introduce you to Superman" Aqualad finished.

Superboy's eyes widened at this pronouncement.

_Yes success_

"No, they can't!"

Swift's little victory dance in her head stopped as the doors to their chamber opened, and a scientist walked in. He seemed to be middle-aged and had brown hair with two grey bangs at the front all tied back in a low ponytail. He wore black-rimmed glasses and his white lab coat swished around him. He was flanked at the side by Guardian and another female scientist. All three of them had the strange little genomes on their shoulders.

"They'll be otherwise occupied" he eyed his captives inside their pods "Activate the cloning device."

"Pass" Swift called out eyes narrowed at the scientists.

"Yeah, the Batcave's crowded enough" Robin added.

"And get the weapon back in its pod!" he yelled at Guardian who obeyed without question. Swift read the tag on the male scientist's coat.

_Dr Mark Desmond_

"Hey! How come he gets to call Supey an it?!" Kid Flash said irritated as Guardian put a hand on Superboy's shoulder.

"Help us…please?" Swift gave Superboy a pleading look.

He hesitated to take a long look at her, and Swift saw his confusion deepen. And then it was gone. He shrugged Guardian of him glaring.

"Don't start thinking now!" Desmond complained as the genome on his shoulder hopped onto Superboy. Its little horns glowed red, and Superboy's face turned blank.

"See you're not a real boy, you're a weapon. And you belong to me!" but then Desmond backtracked at once "well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!"

Superboy turned and walked out the door quietly. Desmond turned back to face the sidekicks.

"So, you are the famous sidekicks? Aqualad, Kid Flash, Swift and Boy Wonder" he smirked as his eyes fell on Robin. Swift shifted uncomfortably. Something in her gut was telling her this wasn't going to end well.

"Tell me Robin which one of your little friends would you like me to make a demonstration of first."

Desmond walked towards Aqualad. Robin's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't struggle. "No well, then how about him?" Desmond pointed to Kid Flash.

Robin's eyes narrowed even more, but it still wasn't enough for Desmond. The scientist finally approached Swift his smile widening as Robin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Ladies first then."

Desmond turned back to the other female scientist and nodded. She typed on a keyboard in front of her and immediately two robotic arms shot out in front of Swift. Her eyes widened in dawning horror as the ends of them split into finger-like appendages with needle tips. They pierced through the protective armour under her costume and into her chest.

At once pain shot through her system as bolts of electricity riddled her body striking at every nerve, every muscle, and every fibre of her being. Swift shrieked in pain as slowly a strange sucking sensation began to pull out blood from where nearly all metal needles had punctured the skin, while one of them started injecting something weird and bright purple into her system through the back of her neck.

She had no idea of what the substance was, but whatever it was it seemed to burn through her arteries and veins as it travelled around her body.

She was screaming so loudly that she barely heard her friends calling out to her in horror. Black dots began to obscure her vision.

"Stop it!" Robin yelled at Desmond half torn between terror and rage "Stop! We'll do whatever you want, STOP!"

The last word came out as an agonised scream as metallic arms shot out from the three remaining pods and pinned themselves into the young heroes' chests.

They all struggled and screamed as their blood seeped into translucent spheres.

As he struggled, Aqualad thought he could hear Desmond say.

"…delete the originals. Except for the girl. I want to examine her myself."

He shut his eyes tight and focused with all his might on the one person whom their life may depend on.

"Superboy…" he whispered as he forced his mind to reach into the teenage clones " **You**  live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon? … Or a person? The choice is yours but ask yourself. What would Superman do?"

Superboy had been walking obediently back to his pod room before he heard the loud shriek of agony.

It was a sound that chilled him right down to the bones as he stopped in his tracks to look back the way he had come.

As he did so, he heard the strange Atlantean boys voice in his head.

_What would Superman do?_

He remembered the young girls expression when she stood up for him back in that room. She hadn't been lying; even the smile she'd given him was genuine not like the greedy eyes the scientists gave him. She had addressed him like he was a friend, not a weapon, and so had they, the other sidekicks, even if the one in red and yellow was slightly annoying. He then remembered their faces. They were physically no older than himself.

…kids… like him.

He remembered the warm feeling as he'd talked more with them and his chest tightened. He placed his hand over it confused. He was a clone, a weapon of war, but being with those other kids made him feel more alive…more human.

Did Superman feel like this too? Was this the reason why he protected humanity? Because they made you feel all these things?

He heard their screams far off in the distance and looked down at the red "S" symbol on his solar suit.

He didn't know much about his predecessor, but he knew that Superman wouldn't turn down a plea for help, especially not from a bunch of kids.

Superboy turned on his heel and began jogging at an alarming speed.

He could see the door ahead. The screams were getting louder and louder. With a grunt, he grabbed at the handles and tore the door off as if it were nothing more than paper.

The four other teens were all still screaming in pain, writhing and twisting as their blood was forcibly drained by their pods. It was quick to stop as the female scientist in charge of the machine noticed the angry Super Clone turned it off hurriedly before running terrified out of the room.

Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin sighed with relief. Swift's head lolled to the side as she panted hard. She saw black spots all over the place, and she felt her stomach churn uncomfortably. Her body was still burning from the back of the neck where that one needle had injected that mysterious substance.

_Just what the hell did they do to me?_

"I told you to get back to your-" but Superboy merely pushed Desmond, Guardian and the strange horned talking genomorph aside and they crumpled to the floor.

"Don't give me orders" he growled down at Desmond. Swift raised her head seeing the blurred form of Superboy walk in front of them.

"Are you here to help us? Or fry us?" Kid Flash asked nervously.

Superboy narrowed his eyes in deep concentration at Kid who gulped.

… but nothing happened.

"Hmm! I don't seem to have heat vision, so I guess helping is my only option" and for the first time a ghost of a smile flitted across his face just as two metallic clicks announced Robins successful escape.

He landed on the floor nimbly and straightened up.

"Argh! Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long" he grunted causing Kid Flash to crack finally.

"Seriously that's what you're worried about. The whole league will have our heads after tonight! We got our asses kicked by a Kryptonian! That crazy scientist would've killed us too after he cloned us! He almost killed Swift just now!"

"Almost being the word" Swift mumbled hoarsely from where she hung. "Robin…keyboard"

Robin sighed as he walked over to the computer and typed on some buttons. The needles retracted from Swift, Kid Flash and Aqualad's bodies.

"Free Aqualad!" he spat, still slightly bitter, to Superboy "I'll get Swift and Kid Mouth!"

"Don't you give me any order's either" Superboy growled.

Robin undid Kid Flash's shackles first.

"Sorry about y'know," the speedster said as he helped his friend undo Swift's shackles.

"Save it for later, when we finally get out of here," Robin said as Swift almost toppled on top of him. The bruise on her forehead had swelled badly. "Think you can carry her?"

"Do you need to ask?" Kid Flash and Robin both grinned at each other. All argument was forgotten as the latter hoisted Swift onto his back, piggyback style.

"Hey, babe" Kid whispered gently. Swift stirred. Her head was still spinning and throbbing badly. She could feel a concussion swelling up at the back of her head.

"What?" she grumbled

"Think you can hold on?"

"I'll try" she looped her arms around Kid Flash's head and hung on like a baby koala as the boys sped out of the room towards the broken doorway.

"You'll - You'll never get out of here!" Desmond yelled from the floor where he lay "I'll have you back in your pods before morning!"

"That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all" Robin sighed as he flung exploding birdarangs at the spheres containing their blood.

"What is it with him and this whelmed thing?" Kid Flash asked Swift who gave a weak eye roll.

They ran through corridor after corridor of weird red slime slowly but surely ascending. As they ran, Swift's mind began to clear more, and her head throb less, though her body still tingled all over.

"We're still forty-two levels below ground but if we can make the elevator-" but Aqualad stopped short as the mammoth sized genomorph trolls blocked their path.

Swift turned her head.

"Err…guys…."

They all turned to see the strange bubbles in the walls glow. One by one, the genomorphs hatched.

They turned back to their goal just in time to see one of the trolls rear up fists in the air. They jumped out of the way and sped off.

All except for Superboy who leapt forward and punched the lights out of the first troll.

Swift shut her eyes tight as Kid Flash used his super speed to dart between the trolls. They stopped just as Aqualad and Robin came out too. They stood there for a moment as the place shook slightly.

Rubble dropped in small pebble-like forms from the ceiling.

"Superboy the goal is to escape! Not to bury ourselves here!" Aqualad called out to the very violent very angry Superboy who was pummeling everything in his path.

"YOU WANT ESCAPE!" he roared before picking up an unconscious troll and flinging it at the other two standing ones. They crumpled instantly.

They all ran to the door, Aqualad tearing it open with his bare hands.

Robin shot his grappling gun upwards as Kid Flash with Swift, who was still clinging tight like a baby monkey to his back, sped up the side of the wall.

Superboy followed tugging Aqualad with him as he leapt up into the air. They rose high up into the air, many stories high, just up till Sub level fourteen. Then…then they started to fall.

"I'm-I'm falling." Superboy sounded as shocked as they all felt.

Swift reached into her pocket and with a speed that even impressed Kid Flash, flung one of her birdarangs which stuck onto the wall. Aqualad caught it and the two teenagers hung there.

"Superman can fly" Superboy mumbled as Robin landed next to Swift and Kid "Why can't I fly?"

"Dunno. But it looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound, still cool though" Swift grinned at Kid Flash's kindness as Superboy and Aqualad jumped down onto their landing.

"Thank you" he mumbled again, still looking quite disappointed with himself.

"Guys! This will have to be our exit!" Robin called as they heard the screeching of metal scraping against metal.

Swift looked down. The shaft was empty.

She looked up. The bottom of the elevator was speeding down fast towards them.

Superboy wrenched the doors open and they all toppled through just in time.

But their success was short lived as a massive army of genomorphs came around the corner.

They turned around the corner and ran.

"You ok up there?" Kid Flash called to Swift.

"I'll be fine once we finally get out of here!" she said turning to face Robin who smiled gladly.

She was beginning to sound more like herself again. It wouldn't be too long before she could run and fight.

"Go left! left!" Superboy called.

They turned left at the next crossroads.

"Right," he said after another few turns.

They turned right and … hit a dead end.

Kid Flash skidded to a halt and rounded on Superboy.

"Great direction Supey! You trying to get us re-podded!"

"No…I... I don't understand!" Superboy looked disappointed again.

"OW!" Kid Flash winced as swift painfully pinched his ear and hissed.

"Don't pick on him!"

"And don't apologize either. This is perfect!" Robin's grin grew even wider pointing at the air vent up high in the wall as he and Aqualad came level with them.

Using his water bearers, Aqualad whipped out two tendrils of glowing water, which wrapped themselves around the bars of the vent. With a sharp tug he pulled them off, the metal grate hitting the floor with a loud clang.

"Come on Kid, gimme a boost!"

"What-Oof!" Kid winced as Swift hoisted herself to stand up on his shoulders, reaching up for the rectangular hole in the wall. With a surprising amount of strength, she managed to hoist herself up into the air vent.

"What are you boy's waiting for an invitation?" she snapped back at them when they didn't follow her at once.

They all gave her sheepish looks and she huffed as she pulled her head back.

"Alright, fine I'll just leave you all here and escape on my own, shall I?" she muttered darkly.

"Whoa, easy there missy, we're coming" Robin sighed.

"Missy? What am I a horse?" Swift rolled her eyes and began crawling. She as she did she opened her holo-computer. Three more thuds came from behind her.

"Ok, let's see." she mumbled once they were all safely in the ventilation shaft. "we're going to have to follow this vent before climbing a little further ahead. You think you can manage guys?"

They all nodded.

They crawled for what felt like ages.

"Argg" they heard Kid Flash complain. He was second last in line, in front of Superboy. "At this rate, we'll never get out."

"Hey! You try navigating your way through a top-secret base with a splitting headache" Swift hissed back so vehemently that Aqualad was quite surprised that she wasn't spitting fire already.

"Shh," Superboy turned around "Listen" he whispered.

They all stopped and listened. They heard clanging and scraping of claws on metal.

Swift consulted her computer again.

"There should be a trap door above a corridor…here!" she shuffled aside to let Robin pull it open. They hopped down onto the floor below Robin throwing a cement pellet onto the door to seal it.

"We'll keep watch on the hall, and the door," Aqualad said quickly facing said door "You and Robin work on hacking all of the sensors and cameras."

"Way ahead of you" Swift and Robin had already plugged their holo-computers into the main power and were typing away at their top speeds.

After about a minute or so they both whooped in delight. The others who'd been looking around the corridor turned sharply to face them.

"We hacked the motion sensors!" Robin grinned gleefully.

"Sweet!" Kid Flash grinned

"Yeah but there's still plenty of them between us" Swift pointed to all of them "and out" she jerked her thumb up to the ceiling.

"But I've finally got room to move" Kid pulled down his goggles and sped through the doors.

Normally by now, Swift would've sighed with exasperation, but at this moment in time, she was too thrilled with the possibility of escaping this godforsaken place once and for all to really feel angry. Besides the stairs were Kid's specialty, especially since his speed could knock out potential threats along the way.

She followed the others up the long flights of stairs. It was a hard slog for her. Even with Batman's extensive training, Swift could feel her exhausted body giving way as she trailed last in the line.

They had only gone up three flights of stairs when she heard snarls echo from down below.

"GUYS! We got company, and it's moving fast behind us!" she called up ahead. Superboy stopped ahead of her. He stomped his foot down and the floor trembled violently. Swift stumbled but Superboy caught her arm and dragged her onto the landing just as the staircase she'd just been climbing on crumpled taking all the genomorphs down with it.

"GO!" he shoved her forwards so that she ran ahead now between himself and Robin who stopped a flight of stairs above them. He grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs. Superboy stayed behind them occasionally catching Swift if she stumbled and pushing her upwards back towards Robin.

"Sorry" she panted after the tenth flight. She'd stumbled for the fifth time now.

"Just keep going" Superboy urged, and Swift thought she heard a tinge of gentle concern in his usually gruff voice.

They managed to make it up five more levels and Swift saw Kid Flash go through an exit.

"Finally," she managed a smile as she read the sign  _Sub Level 1._

Suddenly the lights in the place turned red and an irritating alarm began to beep on and off.

"Brilliant!" Robin mumbled as he, Swift, Aqualad and Superboy ran into a corridor as up a head Kid Flash collided with a pair of solid doors.

"ARGH! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Swift howled in frustration at the doors, surprising Superboy and Robin who jumped away from her in alarm.

"We're cut off from the street" Aqualad scowled, also aggravated by this unfortunate turn of events..

"Yeah, thanks my head hadn't noticed" Kid mumbled sarcastically, standing up as Superboy and Aqualad tried to muscle the door open. But even their combined super strength wasn't enough.

Robin's fingers were dancing away at his holographic keyboard but it was taking too long.

"Can't you hack this fast enough?" Kid Flash cried out in panic as he heard the thuds of the genomorph trolls as they thudded around the corner.

"I'm working on it as fast as I can!" Robin groaned at his screen.

"All right, that's it!" Swift yelled angrily running to a nearby normal wooden door in the wall and delivering a powerful, angry side kick.

"Oh crap. She's really pissed now!" Robin gulped as he saw door burst off its hinges.

"What are you waiting for let's GO! GO! GO!" She yelled at all of them. The boys rushed through and she followed. The ran through a couple more corridors before they all were forced stopped.

"What the hell are you-" Swift's yell faltered as she looked around. They were surrounded by genomorphs led by Guardian.

Swift's eyebrows twitched, and her nostrils flared.

Robin knew this meant that she was about to explode from the stress.

The genomorph's horns glowed and the five teenagers prepped themselves for a fight, but it was all in vain.

Swift felt her mind go blank as she and the other's toppled to the floor.

The horned talking genomorph stepped forward.

_Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his own mind._

Superboy's eyes snapped open as a sudden realization hit him

_It was you…_

_Yes, brother._

It replied calmly.

_I set the fire and lured your new friends right into Cadmus. Woke them when they were in danger._

_And guided me, why?_

Superboy looked up confused. The genomorph looked down on him sternly.

_Because you are our hope. The genomorph hero. You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom._

The little G-gnome on Guardian's shoulder's horns glowed again, and the human shook his head.

"What's going on?"

Superboy stood up.

_What is your choice brother?_

Superboy paused.

"I…choose…freedom!" he looked the genomorph full in the face.

"Feel's…like fog…lifting" Guardian held his head as he mumbled.

As he spoke the other sidekicks stirred. Swift sat up from her place beside Robin, who helped pull her up, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as they Aqualad and Kid Flash stood up.

"Guardian?" Aqualad addressed the older hero who nodded towards them

"Go," he ordered, "I'll deal with Desmond."

"I think not!" a voice behind Guardian snarled.

The Genomorphs stepped back and they all saw Desmond standing there, fury etched all over his face. He was holding a test tube in his hands and it was filled with a light blue luminous liquid.

"Please don't tell me he plans to drink that?" Swift whispered so that only Robin could hear.

"Probably" he muttered, and Swift felt his grip on her tighten ever so slightly.

"Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus" Desmond popped open the tube and poured the strange substance down his mouth.

Swift held her breath as Guardian backed up so that he was now standing defensively before all of them.

There was a pause. And then suddenly Desmond lurched forward grunting in pain. His muscles twitched convulsively as he fell onto all fours.

Muscles bulged from where there had just been none. The skin pulled tight around the bulging features.

Swift's breath which she'd been holding in, escaped her in a petrified squeak as the skin around Desmond's face tore apart, revealing a grey harder surface beneath. She held onto Robin's side like a lifeline as the monster in front of them roared as he stood up.

Desmond huffed, grinning with terrible razor-sharp teeth as he looked down at his claw like hands, the remainders of his human skin hung pathetically over his face and shoulders.

"Everyone back!" Guardian yelled before rushing towards Desmond who swatted him away as easily as if he were a fly. He hit the wall and fell in a heap.

Superboy was next. Thanks to his super strength he was much luckier than Guardian, but not by much. He too was thrown down, but he quickly stood up.

He leapt into the air attempting to land an aerial attack. Desmond saw him and, grinning madly, the monster man leapt to meet his opponent.

The impact was so heavy that both super clone and mad deformed scientist crashed through the ceiling.

"Ok that's one way to bust through the ceiling," Robin said grinning at Swift as she detached herself from him.

"Less talk, more helping" she glared at the ceiling.

The two of them pulled out their grapple guns and fired them into the ceiling of the floor above, each grabbing one of Kid Flash's arms to hoist him into the air with him.

"You think Lab Coat planned that?" he asked as the three of them shot through the hole.

"I doubt he is planning anything anymore," Aqualad said quietly as he jumped through the hole with his water bearers.

No sooner had he landed, Desmond had grabbed Superboy by the knees and swung him towards them.

"DUCK!" Swift yelled but Aqualad was too slow.

He and Superboy rolled over the hole in the floor and landed close to what appeared to be a secretary's desk.

The others rushed forwards, helping the two up before turning to face Desmond who was still grinning madly.

Swift reached into her belt and pulled out a pair of spiked knuckle dusters which she fitted on each hand. She rarely used them when on missions. Batman was adamant that she and Robin learn to not use weapons, aside from their own brains and bodies, but this was an emergency.

They ran forwards to meet their opponent. Kid Flash was first running under Desmond's legs just as Aqualad and Superboy did a combo punch to the face. KF kneeled on all fours and Desmond tripped.

"Learned that one in kindergarten," he said smugly.

Robin leapt up behind him and threw his birdarangs. Desmond dodged them both by rolling over, but that was a huge mistake as Swift silently moved herself in front of him and landed a hit on his face. The spikes only managed to make a small scratch on his cheek, but it was enough to piss the giant man turned monster off.

She geared herself for a second punch, aiming her spiked index knuckle for his eye but Desmond threw her aside. She landed on her feet luckily and was able to charge Desmond after he'd taken down Superboy. Kid and Aqualad got there before her however and both were knocked down.

Desmond pinned Aqualad to a pillar and began bashing the Atlantean against it repeatedly. Swift gulped as she caught sight of the cracks in the pillar and felt the floor quake as bits of debris fell from the rafters.

"Quick, back here" she grabbed Robin by the scruff of his cape and pulled him back into the shadows. "Holo-computer now"

Robin nodded wordlessly, quickly booting up his holo-computer again. A holographic image appeared of the four support pillars.

"Hey KF get over here!" he called, seeing the speedster stir on the ground. He looked up at the two birds confused, but still sped over as fast as he could.

As he arrived Desmond broke one of the support structures bases with Superboy's body. The damaged portion flashed red as text appeared next to it saying  _Damage, Structural Compromise_

"Got it?" Robin nodded at his partner and the speedster, who nodded back.

"Got it!" Swift and Kid Flash ran in the same direction. Swift struck first and as Desmond looked at her Kid hit him. They both landed next to each other as Kid held up what appeared to be the remainder of a nose.

"Gotcha nose!" he grinned as Swift thrust a very rude finger in their opponent's direction.

Desmond roared and flung Superboy, who had been about to get crushed, down onto the floor. He ran after Kid Flash and Swift, the latter's girlish giggles echoing eerily around the walls as she blended into the shadows.

"Come on you can do better than that!" she called out to Desmond as she somersaulted over his head. He tried snapping his hands to catch her.

"No! Come and get me, you incredible bulk!" Kid Flash called out before tripping over his own feet.

"KID!" Swift yelled. She flung a smoke pellet at Desmond as the monster ran towards her friend. He turned heel and ran towards her instead. Swift readied herself to spring away but a flash of red and yellow and Kid had dragged her before she could move.

"Hey!" she cried out in his arms "What gives?"

"You save my life, I save yours. We're square!" Kid Flash winked.

"That and you need an excuse for Batman, so he won't kick your butt when he finds us here." Swift smirked as they slid onto a puddle Aqualad had made over Robin's chalk X.

"Yeah, that too" Kid admitted as Superboy leapt up from behind them and hit the monster in the face. He thudded to the floor as Aqualad pressed his palms into the puddle.

Instantly his tattoos glowed blue and lighting sparked around his arms. Swift and Kid Flash leapt out of the puddle just in time as Desmond writhed and shrieked in pain.

"Move!" Robin yelled. Swift looked up and saw the tops of the pillars, Robin's exploding birdarangs beeping in each of them.

Then…

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They all ran for the exit as the ceiling began to fall. It crashed down on Desmond who collapsed under its weight. The building kept on collapsing around them.

"Take cover!" Kid Flash yelled over the rumble and crashes around them. Robin grabbed Swift, Kid grabbed Robin, and he was covered by Aqualad and Superboy who crouched over them just as the first giant piece of rubble came down upon them. 

* * *

_**Hall of Justice, Washington D.C., July 5, 00:25 EDT, 2010** _

The entire Justice League entered the library in the Hall of Justice only to find it dark, cold and empty.

"Hello! Wally? Robin? Swift? Aqualad?" The Flash called out. No response.

"Maybe they're in another room?" Green Arrow suggested. "They might have decided to explore a bit. Maybe we should split up and check."

"Why don't you try your coms first?" Wonder Woman suggested.

"That would be a more logical idea" the robotic voice of Red Tornado agreed.

"Don't bother they aren't here." Batman's gruff voice spoke up suddenly in the dark. Flash squeaked like a mouse and zipped behind the closest person he could find, which turned out to be Martian Manhunter. He now spoke in a calm voice.

"Batman is right. I cannot find the children anywhere in the Hall."

"What do you mean" Aquaman sounded worried.

"Swift, Kid Flash's and Aqualad's presences are outside the hall but are still within the city so they are very faint. But that also means they're too far for me to establish a mental link. I cannot locate them at present" the Martian sounded worried too now.

"Speaking of location, Batman where the hell are you?" Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) sounded irritated

"He's next to the computer" Superman had used his X-ray vision and found the stooping figure of the Bat himself hunched over the computer keyboard. A few taps later and the screen came to life illuminating the room with its light blue data streams flowing on the monitor.

Batman's eyes narrowed, and he actually sighed in exasperation as he checked his pocket. He pulled out a small device and clicked a button. It beeped red.

"What is it?" Superman's eyes widened as Batman's hand balled into a fist before he slammed it down on the table hard.

The Justice leaguers all jumped in alarm.

"Those kids…" he growled, "I'll ground them for a month!"

"So, you found them?" the Flash peeped out from behind Martian Manhunter to stare at the now very angry bat as he straightened up and growled.

"They're at Cadmus"

His colleagues all took a few steps back from him nervously.

"Let's go!" he barked.

"And he's pissed" Green Arrow muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Pissed! No! Batman wasn't pissed, he was furious! Furious and dreadfully worried, in the way that only a parent could get.

He'd told them to stay put. He told Robin and Swift to stay there in the Hall until he and the league had finished their job. And what did they do? They'd hacked Justice League files together. Swift had hijacked the Batmobile AGAIN!

_Those kids…when we get them back, they're going to be in so much trouble!_

Batman's glare darkened as he stood in Green Lantern's green bubble along with the other mentors. All of them were tactful enough to stand a little way away from him, if only to spare themselves his dark wrathful glower.

Superman, who'd been flying alongside Green Lantern, shook his head, only to pause mid-flight.

"What is it?" Batman snapped. He wanted to get to Cadmus fast and he didn't want the Blue Boy Scout slowing them down.

"I thought I heard a…" Superman's eyes widened in horror.

"Clark-what-CLARK?" Green Arrow cried out as Superman took off again this time speeding ahead of Wonder Woman who'd been in front of the entire league. 

* * *

_**Project Cadmus, Washington D.C., July 5, 00:33 EDT, 2010** _

A large mass of rubble was lying where there had once been a building. One spot of rubble was moving.

Finally, a large piece of cement flew up into the air. A large masculine arm with a white sleeve clawed out and lifted a disk-shaped piece of what had once been part of a ceiling.

There was a gasp of relief as Superboy flung the debris away.

"We…did it" Aqualad huffed grinning widely as he looked back on Swift, Robin and Kid Flash who were all kneeling on the floor huffing as they crawled out from their hiding place.

"Was there…ever any doubt" Robin huffed as he and Kid Flash gave a high five. They winced straight afterwards.

"You idiots" Swift laughed breathlessly before leaning forward and groaning in pain. She felt a chill and several sharp stings against the skin on her back. the portion of her bodysuit that protected her shoulders and upper back had accidently been torn when the rubble came crashing down on them.

"You ok?" Robin asked her quietly.

"Am I dead?" she panted hoarsely. Now that the effects of the adrenaline in her bloodstream were wearing off the pain in her head returned tenfold.

"Nope." Robin reached out and began rubbing his free hand on her back in smooth circles.

"What about you?" she looked up at Robin. Apart from the bottom of his cape being tattered and him missing a whole sleeve he seemed for the most part unscathed. He grinned goofily at her.

Swift swayed a little and her face turned a very pale green.

"Swift?" Aqualad asked cautiously.

Robin backed away just in time as she lurched forward.

"Oh god, that's foul!" Kid sped away in alarm as Swift fell back to her knees and heaved a huge amount of vomit onto the pavement.

"What's wrong with her?" Superboy asked, his nose wrinkling as the disgusting pungent smell of puke filled the air.

"She's just disoriented. Do not worry, it'll wear off in a bit." Aqualad explained as he rubbed soothing circles on her back helpfully.

"Here," Robin handed her a handkerchief he usually kept for picking up evidence from crime scenes.

"Thanks" she coughed as she retched up the last of her bile, looking up to the sky.

"See" She gave a weak smile as she wiped her mouth. "the moon."

The moon was large full and bright above them, it's light illuminating their spot completely. The stars around it were twinkling magically.

"It's… beautiful" Superboy murmured quietly in awe.

"It truly is" Aqualad agreed as he and Kid Flash nodded.

But their peace was short lived as a dark figure appeared in the distance in front of the moon. Swift narrowed her eyes and Robin stiffened as they recognized the red cape.

"Oh and Superman?!" Kid Flash sounded very happily surprised "Do we keep our promises or what?"

"Great, the boy scout's here" Swift's expression darkened as she saw the members of the Justice League approach from a distance. Typical Kid. Had to jinx their happiness, didn't he?

Superman began to descend along with the other Leaguers, his face full of worry. But that didn't compare to the look on Batman's face as he stepped off Green Lantern's green energy platform to stand in front of them. He was positively seething.

"We're so screwed" Swift mumbled to a now pale faced Robin. Truth be told she was impressed that Superman could stand next to her mentor at all with that menacing aura he bore.

"Yeah. Think you can stand?"

Swift nodded. They rose up Robin keeping his arms wrapped around her just in case she fell back down again. Batman and Superman looked down on their charges before looking at Superboy.

Superboy started slightly when he saw his biological "father" look down on him, before he managed a small smile as he lifted his torn solar suit to reveal the matching red "S" symbol.

Superman's eyes widened in shock, and then turned quickly to disgust. Poor Superboy's hopeful expression died instantly.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman growled.

"He doesn't like being called an  _it_ ," Kid Flash said through gritted teeth.

"I'm Superman's clone" Superboy announced. The other Leaguers murmured in shock and concern.

Batman paid no heed to them and stepped forward backed by Green Arrow, the Flash and Aquaman.

"Start talking."

It was Aqualad who did most of the talking, with occasional assistance from Kid Flash. The speedster was quite vocal about his and Swifts performance during the whole taking down Desmond scene.

"So, and then Wvoosh! I went past him, but I tripped. He was about to grab me when Swift threw her birdarang so Desmond stopped and came after her, but she did this cool triple, no wait, quadruple somersault over his head and Desmond was all like, Oo! Oo! Ooh!" Kid waved his arms over his head looking like a slightly crazy monkey, as he reached for an invisible Swift.

"Do you need anything?" Aqualad asked quietly looking at Swift who was still being supported by Robin. Kid Flash was too busy finishing the story with many a flourish and Superboy was taking brief glances at Superman who was standing talking quietly with Wonder Woman.

"A bath and some ear plugs" Swift deadpanned. Robin let out a sudden cackle causing Kid Flash to end his story with a loud "eep!"

All the other mentors chuckled until the Bat turned around. They stopped abruptly and looked down at their feet. It was amazing how he sometimes made them feel more like children than adult superheroes.

The Dark Knight looked back at the sheepishly grinning young teenagers in front of him, before silently turning back to talk to the other mentors.

"Oh, come on we told them everything, what does he want to discuss now?" Kid Flash complained

"He's probably just trying to find out if he can ground all of us." Robin sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have hijacked the Batmobile." Swift muttered softly, more to herself than to anyone else.

Five minutes passed in silence as the five teens stood together.

Eventually, Superman approached Superboy who folded his arms in a slightly defensive manner.

"We'll uh…We'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean. For now,…I'd better make sure they…get that Blockbuster creature squared away."

_That's it! That's all he has to say to his own son?! The Bloody flying kryptonian Douche Bag!_

If she hadn't been feeling so out of it, Swift would have punched Superman in the face. It probably wouldn't make a dent to his skin, but it would at least make her feel better.

She glared at the Man of Steel as he flew off without another look back at their group.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all fifty-two levels."

Batman had returned to them. He seemed calmer than before though it would take a long time before he lost all his fury at them.

"But let's make one thing clear-"

"You should've called!" Flash interrupted with a scowl, and Batman nodded.

"End results aside we're NOT happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, hijacked the batmobile" His eyes narrowed back into slits as he looked at Swift " and endangered lives. You will  **not**  be doing this  **again**."

The five teens exchanged glances before Aqualad stepped forward.

"I'm sorry, but we  **will**."

"Aqualad, stand down" Aquaman commanded sternly at his protégé who gave a small salute of respect.

"Apologies my king, but no. We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together on our own, we forged something powerful, important."

Flash spoke up "If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you-"

"The  _five_  of us." Swift corrected narrowing her eyes back at Batman.

"And it's not" Kid Flash nodded in agreement.

"Batman, we're ready to use what you've taught us or why teach us at all?" Robin also glared at his mentor with fierce determination.

"Why let  _them_ tell us what to do!" Superboy stepped forwards with more confidence in his step. "It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way!"

Batman looked down upon the young heroes in silence. He could feel his anger giving way and quickly being replaced by the more familiar feeling of pride. Pride at their success, pride at their conviction.

But they still broke the rules…

"Give me three days" he growled.

"Three days, that isn't so long" Kid shrugged seemingly content with the idea.

"Uh, guys?" Robin jerked his thumb at Superboy.

"Robin is right what about Superboy? Where will he go now?" Aqualad looked at their new friend with growing concern. In ideal circumstances, Superman would've been the most logical choice. But seeing as the Man of Steel and Boy of Steel hadn't hit it off as everyone had hoped, well, there wasn't anywhere the latter could go.

Superboy seemed to be thinking this too and so it seemed did Kid Flash.

"Hey Supey" he grinned widely "How about you come and stay with me."

"Then it is decided" Batman nodded in approval. Swift was glad. Her mentor had not been too partial to the carefree way of the Speedsters, but Kid Flash was capable of making pretty good decisions when the time called for it.

Behind the white lenses of his cowl, Batman caught sight of the pool of vomit close by. He then examined them all eventually finding Swift.

His anger and worry had clouded his rational that he'd barely noticed the large dark purple bruise over her cheek.

Swift blushed in embarrassment as she looked back down at the dirt. Oh, how she wished she could disappear.

She was relieved when he just nodded silently at their group of sidekicks

"Fine. Aquaman, Flash escort your protégé's home. Superboy you go with Kid Flash. Robin, Swift to the Batmobile NOW!" he barked as a shadow flew over them, landing just five metres away from where they all stood.

It was a slick, shiny, black armored with large round tough car-tyres and a mid grey bat symbol on the bonnet. There was a beep as three of the doors opened automatically.

Once they were safely inside and had shut the doors, Swift pulled off her headgear with a sigh, revealing the face of a very tired and bruised Christine Hallows.

"Phew! I'm pooped."

"Me too, I'm ready to hit the-" Robin stopped mid sentence as he stared at her wide eyed through the car's rearview mirror from the passengers seat. "Uh…Chris?"

"What?" Christine groaned as she undid her bun and ran a hand through her long white-

She stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at the lock of hair in her hand.

_Oh no…oh no-oh no-oh no-nonononononononono!_

Heart pounding, she snatched her small black compact mirror from her utility belt, crying out in alarm at the sight that greeted her.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Her hair, her once dark chocolate head of hair, was instead as silvery white as snow. And that wasn't the worst of it, for her eyes too had changed from dark brown, to a bright yellow-orange.

"…Dad…" she gulped as she looked at Batman's reflection. As soon as he caught sight of her face, he quickly switched the Batmobile to autopilot so he could turn around to fully see her for himself.

The dark slits in the cowl narrowed, and his jaw tensed as he looked at his charge's wide terrified yellow eyes.

"Kid Flash said that Desmond had injected some sort of chemical into your bloodstream while prepping you all for the cloning process, right?" he grunted after examining her face silently.

"You think that's what's done this?" She bit her lip, exchanging a frightened glance with Dick who had just taken off his mask and was grabbing at her compact to check his own reflection. However, nothing seemed to be wrong with him except for the couple of scratches on his cheeks and arms.

Batman didn't answer her, his jaw clenched as he turned back to the steering wheel and grunted:

"Alfred. Alfred, do you copy?"

"Right here sir." The British tones of Alfred filled the inside of the vehicle "I take it you have found master Dick and Miss Christine?"

"Yes. But there were… _complications_."

"Complications?" Alfred sounded worried. "By god are they alright?"

"They are for the most part but…" Batman sighed "I'll explain when we reach home. For now, please prep the med bay."

"Of course sir."

There was a beep as Alfred disconnected the call.

Christine sighed heavily, biting her lip as she looked out the car window.

It was going to be a long drive back home. 

* * *

_**The Batcave, July 7, 12:06, EDT, 2010** _

A dark figure in a dark costume, hunched over slightly in a chair in front of a myriad of glowing computer screens.

He'd had been sitting in front of them for hours; thinking and watching the data streams flit by, occasionally typing in queries if he needed. He was now finishing a government secret file.

The brooding Batman pulled down his cowl to reveal the troubled face of Bruce Wayne. None of the five hundred or so science articles, military reports or even posts online he'd ever read could explain the answer to his question.

He stood up and stretched before looking over his shoulder where a little way away a med bay stood down a few small steps. He smiled in relief when he saw the young girl, who'd been residing in the medical bed, stretch and yawn. As he walked over, he watched as she looked around at the giant T-Rex model and bat-infested ceiling with mild amusement.

She was wearing a plain purple T-shirt with light grey track pants. A tinkle of metal could be faintly heard as she picked up a metal dog tag on a thin ball chain from the table beside her. What had once been ahead of dark brown hair was now a long messed up mass of white, which she quickly combed through to neaten her bed head.

"G'morning dad!" Christine called without looking up at him as he glided down the steps and towards her.

"Actually, it's a good afternoon. How are you feeling?" Bruce eyed her face closely as she clipped the chain around her neck. She still had a nasty bruise on her cheek, but it was slowly getting better. Already most of the swelling had gone down, save for a small purple patch the size of a bottle cap.

"A hell of a lot better actually" She grinned, sitting Indian style in the bed. "What about you. What are you researching?" she eyed the computer screens in the distance. "Files from Project Cadmus?"

"Yes. Though there seems to be very little information on the chemical Doctor Desmond injected into you."

"Oh…I see" Christine turned over the dog tags in her hand to read their inscriptions

_Hallows, Stuart Jnr. 666 -013- 444. B Negative, No Religious Pref._

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Bruce looking her in the eye.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to get through this alright."

"Don't worry?" she rolled her eyes "I've turned into a white-haired, yellow-eyed ghost and you're telling me not to worry? School is in a few weeks, and I've still got my holiday Ballet training to do. How am I gonna explain all…all  _this_  to them? Because unless I turn into a shut-in hermit, there's no way anyone's gonna believe whatever excuse we come up with."

"We'll think of something." Bruce assured her calmly "For now we'll just call you in sick, while I look into the situation with the league and Star Labs. There must be someone amongst us that should be able to reverse the effects, or at least find a way to hide most of the changes. At the moment though I'm gonna need you to be patient while I get enough blood samples to send in for a more extensive analysis."

"Why? What's going on?" Christine frowned, only have a datapad shoved into her hands.

"The chemical that you consumed has changed you on the genetic, cellular level. From what the Bat-computer has been able to decipher, it seems to have activated a meta-gene that has lain dormant in your genetic code for years."

"Even if it was dormant how did the computer not pick it up till now?" Christine scanned down the file with her orange-yellow eyes, brow furrowed in confusion "The genetic scanner is designed to look for potential meta-gene protein combinations."

"Yes, but it only works when scanning samples where the meta-gene has been fully or partially activated." Bruce explained "Since the research of meta-eugenics is still in its relatively early stages, it will be a while before we can develop technology that can properly detect the meta-gene protein combinations. As a result, it is highly possible that there are in fact many people out there whom we don't know about, that may possess dormant meta-genes and are unaware of their hidden potential."

"People like me?" Christine looked back down at the dog-tags in her hands.

"Yes…like you" Bruce nodded solemnly

"Does this mean I might have superpowers now?" she mumbled.

"We're not sure, but it is a possibility. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

"And my papa? Do you think my papa could've been a meta-human?"

"If he was, he didn't tell me." Bruce's eyes hardened as his protégé scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"Y'know, that would explain a lot. Maybe I get this from his side of the family. God knows that old witch didn't leave me with anything. But if papa was a meta-human, he might've gone into hiding because of his powers."

"Christine" Bruce tried cutting in, his jaw tense but she didn't seem to notice as she continued to babble.

"-Or maybe people were after him. People like Desmond who experiment with Meta-Eugenics-"

"Christine!" Bruce barked, his heart sinking sadly as she looked up at him in surprise.

"I know this all must be new to you, but take it easy. Don't run before you can walk." He sighed, gently reaching out to close her hands over her father's dog-tags. "Right now I'm more worried about how we are going to monitor these new changes that could possibly be happening to your body, than chasing old ghosts."

"My papa is not a ghost. He's alive, and I don't care what you say I'm still gonna find him." Christine pouted angrily, folding her arms over her chest

Bruce opened his mouth to speak when soft echoing footfalls announced the entrance of Alfred and Dick, who had his hands shoved in his blue sweater pockets.

He grinned as he caught sight of his partner still sitting up in the medical bed.

"Yo there Old Missy. How's it hanging?"

Christine was about to snap at him, only to stop as Alfred set down a breakfast tray in front of her laden with a bowl of steaming hot porridge with honey, topped with two small cinnamon sticks, a plate of toast and a glass of orange juice.

"Food!" she growled excitedly, picking up her spoon and began walloping down the porridge.

"You sound like Wally," Dick smirked

"Whatever food is food!" Christine took three huge gulps from the glass of orange juice.

"Hey Bruce," Dick looked up at his mentor with an expectancy. Bruce sighed knowing precisely what his ward wanted to ask.

"You were wondering if I have I will be making you two and your friends into a team."

"Doesn't matter, does it? Even if you or the League don't allow it, Bruce, I'll still find a way to make the five of us a team."

Christine looked up from her food to see her brother looking up at the dark-haired man in with fierce determination.

Bruce now turned to her.

"Christine. As Swift what is your opinion? Do you support Robin on this?"

Christine swallowed a mouthful of porridge.

"Bruce, you once told me that the Justice League was a team of the worlds finest heroes. It has been four years since you said this and since then the League has gone through some tough fights. Not all its members are immortal, and none of them is incapable of dying."

"So, are you agreeing with me or not?" Dick eyed her oddly.

"I'm saying that one day even the Batman won't be able to do the hero gig forever. Eventually, the responsibilities of the Justice League will have to be passed on to a new generation. When that time comes, it will be good to have a contingency plan… a legacy. The five of us sidekicks, we are that legacy, or at least we are the start of it. As Swift, I think…I think that this team is necessary for the survival of the League."

"Since when did you start becoming such a wise sage?" Dick grinned. Swift blushed slightly with embarrassment.

Bruce and Alfred exchanged glances.

"Alfred, send a group message to the rest of the League that Batman has confirmed and approved the creation of a new team and that all available League Members are to meet at Mount Justice. Also" Bruce had to raise his voice slightly to be heard over Dicks loud whoops of joy "send personal messages to the other mentors, not including Green Arrow, that they are to meet us at Mount Justice tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning with the other protégés plus Superboy. "

Christine's grin vanished.

"What's up, Chris? Aren't you happy?" Dick was still grinning

" _'Not including Green Arrow'_?" she repeated, "So Roy is still mad with Ollie?"

"Yes." Bruce shook his head his face grave "Roy left Oliver's apartment the very night he quit. We believe he might be using one of the old storage facilities in Star City as a base until he can rent a place of his own."

"So, he is going solo? Like, for real?" Dick's excitement faded a little. Bruce nodded.

"Yes. Roy is eighteen years old and a legal adult. You two, on the other hand, are still thirteen." He narrowed his eyes at his two kids who exchanged nervous glances "There will be living quarters at Mount Justice for your teammates who don't have residences. You can also choose your own rooms just in case you two should wish to stay overnight for a couple of days  **but**  otherwise, I still expect you to come home on time, especially when school starts. There will be more than enough time to socialize with your teammates. Now, why don't you two go upstairs whilst I continue work?"

"If it's a case you're working on why we don't help you out now?" Dick asked.

Bruce sighed. "No it's alright, I'm just updating the cave's software. You two go upstairs and have some fun." he turned on his heel before heading back to the cave computer.

"So…what have you been up to?" Christine asked swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Ah, just video games but I'm stuck on a level, wanna hook up a controller and help me out?"

"Maybe in a bit, I need a bath, plus gotta text Freddy and find out how her mom's doing in the hospital."

"How come Freddy's mom's in hospital," Dick asked curiously as they walked up a small flight of steps that they knew led to a secret door behind the grand piano.

"When we were on our way to catch Freeze, Freddy texted me and told me that his mom went into labour."

"Ouch! Ok well tell her I said hello and I'm giving her my full support. Having siblings is tricky especially if they're girls" he quickly ducked out of sight as Christine aimed a swipe at him.

"Boy Wonder you get back here right now!" She yelled as Dick leapt away his gleeful cackles echoing around the large manor.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, July 8, 08:00, EDT, 2010** _

_Recognised Batman 02, Robin B01, Swift B02_

Batman stepped out of the Zeta tube followed by Dick and Christine.

They were both in civilian clothes. Dick was wearing black converse, skinny black jeans and a black jacket over a red sweater with slim dark shades obscuring his eyes.

"Sweet! We get our own personal designation numbers" he hissed excitedly.

She too wore shades, though hers had been clipped on the front of her regular reading glasses. She wore a purple tank top underneath a cropped black hoody, small black shorts and shiny black Doc Martens. Her silver-white hair was tied back in a bun, not as high or as neat as when on patrol but presentable nonetheless.

She smirked at Dick's antics with amusement as he excitedly pointed out that one of the Green Lanterns was fixing the roof.

She might not have shown it, but she too was very excited to be here. She couldn't believe her luck that Batman had agreed to do this for them.

Batman led his two partners to the centre of the room where Red Tornado stood waiting as Hawkman swooped down carrying an unidentifiable piece of equipment.

"Hello Batman" the red android greeted metallically "Hello Robin, Swift" he turned his head to the partners who smiled running to the centre of the hall.

"Hello Red Tornado" Swift waved

"How's it hanging Red?" Robin called cheerily

"How is what hanging?" even though Red Tornado's voice was monotone Christine could still sense the confusion.

"He's just asking how you are." She smirked at Dick's embarrassed expression.

"I am very well, thank you."

"Oh, good Batman you're here!" a feminine voice called from across the room.

Red Tornado turned just as a woman strode out of a hallway that led off the main hall.

She was beautiful, with long blond hair and a slim yet toned and curvaceous build. She wore a black bustier/leotard over a pair of grey stockings and heavy black calf length boots, matching her black fingerless gloves. To complete the ensemble, she wore a blue jacket and a black choker around her neck. She projected an air of confidence, not just as a woman but also as a fighter, as she stopped to stand in front of Batman, hands on her hips.

"Hawkwoman and I have finished setting up the gym. The Green Lanterns are repairing the launch bay and Aquaman, Aqualad and Hawkman are busy setting up the pool, but after that, we should be all done."

"Good work. Robin, Swift this is Black Canary. She will be the team's trainer and fighting instructor" Batman stood off to the side to allow Black Canary to see his protégé's.

"So, these are your  _famous_  partners; it's good to finally meet the two of you." She smiled at them extending her hand.

Dick took it first, grinning.

"It's nice to meet you too, mam."

Black Canary smiled before extending her hand towards Christine who flushed a dark pink.

_Damn, she's hot._

The Girl Wonder gulped as she looked the older woman over.

"Swift's shy," Batman said his scowl still prominent but softer. If Canary didn't know any better, she would think that the Bat was rather enjoying teasing his partner.

"Am not!" Christine pouted indignantly as she took Black Canary's hand and shook it. It was a firm handshake. The older woman chuckled before turning to Batman.

"I don't understand why you haven't brought these two around before?"

Batman was about to respond when the Zeta tube announced

_Recognised Flash 04, Kid Flash B04, Superboy B05_

They all turned to see the Flash exit the Zeta tube followed closely by Kid Flash, also dressed in his civilian form Wally West.

"The Wal-Man has arrived everybody!" He cried out before speeding to stand in front of the two birds.

"Sorry, it took so long. It took a while to get these two up and ready." The Flash apologized to Batman who nodded curtly. In truth he wasn't so bothered; he knew what it was like trying to wake up sleepy teenagers. It had taken the combined efforts of both him and Dick to even convince Christine to open her eyes that morning.

He watched interestedly as Dick and Wally high fived. Even though he was technically their father, he'd rarely had the chance to see how his kids interacted with their friends. He watched as Wally approached Christine.

"Whoa! So that's your new do huh? I thought Rob was kidding when he said your hair had gone white. Speaking of changing colours, how's the cheek babe? Don't try to hide it. If it still feels bad, I could…I don't know, kiss it better?" Wally swung an arm around Christine and looked at the small but still prominent bruise.

"Thanks, Wal-man but I'll pass." She leaned away, smirking in amusement as she rolled her eyes. Wally was a flirt, but she knew he never really meant what he said to her. But that didn't stop the nasty scowl that had crept over the Batman's face.

Wally's grin faded quickly at sight and chills over his shoulders before speeding off to push Superboy towards the group.

The clone boy had switched his solar suit for a black T-shirt with a red "S" symbol, a pair of dark blue pants held by a buckle and black combat boots.

"Hey Superboy, how're you doing?" Dick nodded.

"Fine" Superboy grunted quietly folding his arms. Despite his massive size, he kind of reminded Christine of a grumpy kitten.

"Ah good, you're all here now" came a new voice. They all turned to see Aquaman, Hawkman and Aqualad stride into the room.

"Hey, Aqualad!" Wally called out happily waving.

Christine was surprised to see that the young Atlantean wasn't wearing his uniform. Instead, he wore a dark blue jacket with a high neck and faded blue jeans with sneakers.

He nodded smiling as he strode over to the other teens.

"Hello. It is good to see you all again." He turned towards Christine with a warm smile "How are you faring Swift? I heard that our trip to Cadmus had greatly changed you."

"You can say that again." Christine blushed as she ran a hand through her white locks.

"What? So, this isn't what you really look like?" Superboy frowned at her.

"Nope. And it's thanks to Doctor Desmond that I'll probably never be able to go back to normal."

"Hey-hey. Nothing's definite yet" Dick put a hand on her shoulder "Now that we've got Star Labs and the league involved there still might be a chance to reverse the effects."

"Well that's news to my ears" Christine took off her sunglasses to wipe at her eyes.

"Whoa-hey! What's that?" Kid Flash spluttered, pointing at her eyes.

"What's what? Oh, right these" Christine raised her glasses to reveal her now yellow-orange eyes. "Yeah, it kinda…came with the hair."

"Are there any other changes we need to know about?" Aqualad smirked to lighten the mood.

"If there are I'll be sure to keep you all informed, my good sir" Christine winked back pretending to bow and doff an invisible cap to him.

Batman cleared his throat.

At once all teens stood to line up in front of the striding dark figure.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary for the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, Black Canary is in charge of training.  **I** will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions," Dick asked hopefully.

"Yes, but  _covert_."

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff" the Flash stepped forwards and pointed to the yellow lightning bolt on his chest "There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests."

Aquaman nodded before adding gravely "But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

_Dude I was born sly_

Swift's smirk grew a little.

"The six of you will be that team."

"Cool…wait six" Dick's chuckle gave way to confusion as footsteps became audible behind them.

They all turned to see Martian Manhunter walk into the light accompanied by another green-skinned figure.

This one was female, physically no older than sixteen years old. She had a head of long thick red hair, red lips and amber coloured eyes. She wore a white top with a red X on it along with a short blue cape and matching blue skirt, gloves and boots.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian" Batman said quietly.

"Hi" Miss Martian gave a shy wave.

"Finally, another girl" Christine grinned with enthusiasm before skipping up to the Martian girl.

"The name's Swift, it's nice to meet you Miss Martian." she held out her hand towards the Martian girl.

"It's nice to meet you too."

They shook hands smiling at each other.

Behind them, Batman sighed in relief. He was relieved. Being the only girl in a household of males, Christine had a little trouble getting along with other girls. But she genuinely seemed to take a liking to Miss Martian straight away. Perhaps it was the fact that the Martian girl was  _different_  from the rest of the other human girls.

"Now we have two super babes on this team? I like this gig more every minute" Wally muttered to the other boys before stepping forwards.

"Uh…Welcome aboard, I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names."

"Dude not cool!" Dick cried out indignantly.

Christine shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind those two. They're always like this"

Miss Martian giggled.

"I'm honoured to be included."

Aqualad, Dick and Wally stepped forwards and began introducing themselves to their new teammate. Christine peered around their group.

"Hey Superboy!" she called to the clone who stood behind them, unsure of what to do. "Come, meet Miss M." She smirked, and Superboy's posture relaxed a little as he stepped forwards.

As he approached the Martian's white shirt and blue cape, transformed into a black T-shirt with the red X.

"I…like your T-shirt" Miss Martian looked up at Superboy, smiling shyly.

There was a pause, and then Superboy gave her a small smile.

_Aww! These two._

Christine squealed as she and Dick exchanged grins. The latter elbowed Superboy smirking, just as Wally sped to put an arm around the other shoulder.

Superboy's smile widened slightly as did Aqualad who put a hand on Christine's other shoulder before saying proudly.

"Today  _is_  the day"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it, Episode 2 is up and running.
> 
> We're starting to see more of the plot changes i was talking about. Yes, Swift has undergone a transformation, and she might be getting powers (Don't worry I've thought it all out and hopefully it will make Non-Mary-Sue sense later). Anyways all her Robin/Swift love stuff is GONE, they still do care about one another but it's more fluff than anything else. When romance appears it will probably be a very slow burn ;).
> 
> Anyways i hope you all enjoyed and keep reviewing for more.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	3. Welcome to Happy Harbor

_**Belle Reve Penitentiary, July 17, 22:33 EDT, 2010** _

"Doctor Desmond. You have visitors"

Superman and Batman both stood before the glass cell, watching the prisoner within.

It was a man, or at least what had once been a man. Now he was a tall, hulking monster with grey skin, a muscular body and grotesque features. Around his neck was a thick bulky inhibitor collar, set to a very high shock level.

Despite this, he still maintained a calm, level-headed countenance as he stood up to face down the two heroes before his cell.

"Superman and Batman, the world's finest. What have I done to deserve such a grand honour?"

"You think too little of yourself Doctor Desmond" Superman scowled at the geneticist turned supervillain. "Project Kr-"

"Ah yes, the Superboy clone" Desmond sneered, his eyes glinting with a manic light "Tell me, Superman, how does it feel knowing that the greatest weapon against you is living right under your very nose."

"Your super clone has been neutralised. He is now under the full protection of the Justice League" Batman scowled as he stepped forward, his nose almost touching the glass. "I want to know what you did to my partner."

"Ah…which one?" Desmond's lip curled.

"You know which one" the white lenses in Batman's cowl narrowed dangerously.

"It was nothing" Desmond rolled his eyes. "merely the rudimentary procedure when preparing new subjects for the cloning process."

"Does this process include injecting her with a high dosage of an altered venom compound?" Batman snarled.

"Depends on the subject in question." Desmond shrugged "All of my subjects in previous experiments have been males. I wanted to see how the compound affects a female test subject, and your Swift was the perfect candidate to test my new formula."

"And what is this new formula supposed to do?" Superman said, glancing sidelong at Batman, who looked almost ready to rip their prisoner's throat out with his bare hands.

"The same as most venom compounds. It merely enhances a consumer's muscle mass and durability. The original venom formula is highly unstable and deforms the body with each dosage. The Venom formula I used on your dear little sidekick, was a more stabilised compound, designed to give her the same super strength and superior endurance, but without compromising the muscular and skeletal structure."

"If it didn't compromise her body, then explain how this happened" Batman snarled as he held up a picture of a girl's headshot. The lower half of her face from her nose downwards was covered in a dark grey mouth-mask, leaving only her bright purple eyes and her head of white hair visible for the mad scientist to see through the glass wall of his cell.

Desmond's monstrous eyes widened in shock as he examined the picture.

"But how…" he breathed looking up at Batman, whose scowl was as dark as a storm.

"We were hoping you could tell us."

Desmond quickly looked at the photograph again, scanning it with great intrigue.

"Amazing, none of our other human subjects produced a result like this. The only subjects with such extreme reactions to the formula were the genomorphs we tested it…on…" his voice trailed away as he looked back up at Superman and Batman, his sneer widening with manic excitement.

"Oh-ho-ho," he sniggered, a dark evil sound that made Superman almost shiver with disgust. "Oh, this is just too precious. Your sidekick is a-HA! And, all this time you never knew,"

He paused as he caught sight of the Dark Knight's tense jaw, and the clenched fists by his sides.

Desmond's eyes widened, though the grin never left it.

"You did know? But you never told her, did you?"

"Batman?" Superman quickly looked at his colleague who was now standing still as stone.

"Don't bother Superman" Desmond spat, leaning back and folding his arms "I'm sure your gloomy friend here has many secrets he hasn't told you about. Though to keep a secret of this magnitude-"

"We're done here" Batman growled, turning on his heel.

"Done?" Desmond smirked viciously at the cloaked back "You must be dreaming if you think all your problems are over, when in fact, they've barely even begun."

"Enjoy your time in this cell Doctor. It's all you're ever going to see from now on" Superman scowled as he too turned his back on the cell and stalked away.

Desmond, however, wasn't troubled.

Indeed, he had never felt more jubilant.

Who'd have thought, after all these years, there would be an old genomorph test subject roaming free around Gotham city.

There was only one big question that remained.

Just who was responsible for her creation, and where were they now?

* * *

_**Star city, July 17, 23:51 EDT, 2010** _

"Who's there?" A tall young man with red hair and wearing a red tunic with yellow belt, quiver, gloves and boots growled. His hands tensed around his red bow and arrow poised to shoot at a dark figure who he could sense was standing in the shadows behind a few crates.

"Show yourself! NOW!" he barked

It shifted a little before finally stepping out into the light. It had the figure of a girl in her early teens, wearing a full black body suit with purple lines and a plain black cowl.

"Great to see you too Roy" a pair of white lenses narrowed sarcastically, in the girl's purple domino mask.

"Oh, it's just you" Roy Harper lowered his bow putting the arrow back in his quiver. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a girl just visit an old friend without getting interrogated?" She pouted folding her arms

"Don't pull the innocent-little-angel with me, Christine. I know why you're here" Roy snapped as he went over to a crate and kicked it open to reveal a stock of food. "Dick and Wally are idiots if they think that they can get you to bat your puppy eyes and magically make me join your-"

"Magic Puppy eyes? If I wanted to bring you back to Mount Justice, I would have knocked you out and thrown you into the trunk of the Batmobile." she snagged a small protein bar from the crate Roy was rummaging.

"Hey!" he called out trying to snatch it back, but she quickly dodged him.

"Don't be so stingy! Saving hostages from Two-Face, kinda make it hard to grab some dinner." she glared at Roy.

Roy glowered back. Then he noticed a package wrapped in brown paper under her arm.

"What's that for?" he asked eyeing it suspiciously.

"A present."

"From who?"

"Santa Clause." Christine rolled her eyes "Who else do you think dummy, it's from me, to give to you! Here."

She chucked the package to Roy who looked somewhat shocked as he caught it and began tearing the wrapping off.

Inside were a lot of materials folded neatly.

"Chris this is…" Roy looked down at the cloth in his hands. There was mostly black with a selection of the primary colours, all made from a sturdy but flexible material.

"You like it?" Christine smiled as she watched him closely examine the red cloth in the dim light above. It was, after all, his favourite colour.

"This is just some extra suit material we had in the Batcave. You'll have to fetch your protective padding and straps for your gear, but you could probably find them all on your own." She jerked her thumb at the small wooden crates that surrounded them.

"I'm also guessing you're going to drop the guise of Speedy, that's if you're serious about going solo."

"Of course, I'm serious! Chris-"

"Don't thank me just yet. Here" she tossed him something, and he deftly caught it. It was a set of keys and a small ear com which Roy immediately put in his ear.

"I figured you'd chuck out your old com already, so I picked you a new one. The keys, on the other hand, lead to 113 Darcy Street, Apartment nine third floor. It's not big like Oliver's place, but it's close to the subway, and there's a hidden Zeta tube in an adjacent alleyway. It's hidden in an old phone booth. I bought the apartment in your name, so you won't have to bother about rent, but you'll have to get a job to pay the bills. There's also an old storage facility hidden beneath the build-"

Christine stopped short as Roy, flung the gifts aside and reached out to hug her tight.

"Thank you" he muttered.

There was a short silence.

"Who are you and what have you done with Roy Harper?" she giggled into his tunic bringing her smaller arms around his waist. Roy chuckled.

"No really I'm serious" he squeezed her tighter. "Everyone else has just been trying to convince me to go back to Ollie or join your 'Junior Justice league'. They think I'm a kid who's not ready. You're the first one that's given their-uh…"

"Blessing?" Christine suggested feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Listen. I won't lie, I'm also worried about you going solo. It's just for so many years us partners have always looked out for one another and…I don't know, watching you leave feels like I'm watching my big brother leave home."

"I won't be going that far. Besides, you already know where I live." Roy ruffled her hair. Christine sniffled.

"Good luck Roy. I hope you make it."

"Don't worry I will."

They stayed like that for a while, hugging until they heard a small beeping noise. The two of them broke apart and Christine checked her holo-computer as she wiped her eyes.

"It's midnight" she sighed "Gotta get back home before Alfred gets worried about where I am."

"Aren't you more worried about Bruce?" Roy gulped. After the way he'd treated her at the Hall of Justice, he wouldn't be surprised if Christine's  _'daddy'_  had put an enormous bounty on his head.

"Knowing him, he probably knows already. But he won't dare to intervene, not if he doesn't want me to hijack the bat plane next" she hopped over a crate making her way towards a zeta tube.

"Only you would dare to hijack the Dark Knight's toys and get away with it." Roy shook his head.

They both laughed as Christine typed in the coordinates for the Bat Cave.

Just as she was finishing typing, Roy called out.

"Christine"

"Yeah" she turned to look at him as the tube began energising.

"About what I said at the Hall…I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said-"

"I know!" She called over the whirring sounds of the teleporter. "You were just being stupid. Good Luck Roy!" She winked at her friend who grinned back as a yellow light consumed her form.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, July 18, 11:16 EDT, 2010** _

_Recognized Robin B01, Swift B02, Kid Flash B03_

The three sidekicks stepped out of the Zeta tube. Christine walked in between, Dick on her left and Wally on her right, both her arms linked with one of theirs. They were all in civilian clothes.

Robin was in his usual black skinny jeans, a black jacket and black shades but with a green sweater. Wally wore a red shirt over a light-yellow T-shirt, a pair of loose blue jeans and sneakers.

Christine wore a short-sleeved blue denim dress over a pair of black leggings and fitted black boots. Like before she donned her detachable shades over her reading glasses and her white hair was tied in a loose bun.

She smiled as she spotted Superboy, Miss Martian and Aqualad standing in the centre of the main hall observing a holographic map. The three pals unlinked arms and ran over to their new friends.

Upon hearing their footfalls, Aqualad turned and smiled at the team's youngest members. He was wearing his usual high collared dark blue jacket over a pair of dark pants. Superboy was in his typical Black Superman T-shirt and blue pants but was wearing a dark brown leather jacket on top. Miss Martian was wearing a white shirt with a pinkish red camisole and matching skirt, a headband pulling her red hair back from her smiling face.

"Did you ask him?"

"What did he say?"

Christine, Wally and Dick were positively bouncing with excitement.

"He's arriving now" Aqualad turned away from the screen.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Christine smiled widely as she sauntered over to a nearby wall. As she did the ceiling folded down to reveal a grass-covered ramp and a wooded terrain beyond. The other's followed excitedly as a swirling red mass announced the arrival of a red android in a blue cape.

"Red Tornado!" Wally called out waving enthusiastically as the hero landed.

"Greetings," he said mechanically "is there a reason you intercept me outside the cave?"

"We thought you had a mission for us," Aqualad said. Everyone gave Red Tornado hopeful looks.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

"But it's been over a week" Dick cried out slightly exasperatedly. Christine nodded taking a spot beside her brother.

"Yeah and so far, nothing-"

"-You will be tested soon enough" Red Tornado put his hand up calmly "For the time being simply enjoy each other's company."

"This  _team_  is not a social club." Aqualad narrowed his eyes.

"No" the android agreed, point to them all "But I am told social interaction is an important team-building exercise. Perhaps you can keep yourselves busy by familiarising yourselves with the cave?" he strode through them towards the cave entrance.

Wally and Dick exchanged glares.

"Keep busy" the speedster huffed folded his arms.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Dick looked at Christine. She just shrugged.

"Oh! I'll find out!" Miss Martian jumped excitedly before turning to look at Red Tornado as he almost made his way to the bottom of the ramp.

After a moment or two, he passed through the computer scanner.

"I-I'm sorry." Miss Martian mumbled "I forgot he's a machine…inorganic. I cannot read his mind."

"Nice try though" Christine smiled just as Wally pushed past her to stand with the Martian girl.

"So, you know what I'm thinking right now?" he leaned into her smirking.

"Pff! We all know what you're thinking now" Dick rolled his eyes behind his shades elbowing the red-haired speedster.

"Ow! Swift!" he complained loudly as Dick continued elbowing his back.

"What do you take me for, your nanny? Grow some balls before I knock your heads together."

Superboy eyed Christine as she narrowed her yellow eyes which caused Dick and Wally to cringe away in fear. He then remembered the way her temper had snapped back at CADMUS. For someone who appeared small and delicate (especially when compared to his height and build) she was surprisingly terrifying and feisty. But thankfully she hadn't gotten angry with him yet and, super clone or not; he preferred to keep it that way.

"And now we tour the  _clubhouse_ " Aqualad still sounded slightly irritated.

"Well," Miss Martian piped in trying to sound chirpy "Superboy, and I live here. We can play tour guides."

"Don't look at me" Superboy grumbled folding his arms.

"We won't" Wally put himself between Christine and Miss Martian slinging both arms around the two of them "a private tour sounds much more fun."

"She never said it was going to be private" Dick rolled his eyes behind his shades.

"Team building" Aqualad intervened as Wally opened his mouth to retort "We'll all go."

As Miss Martian began escorting them inside Christine discretely kept watch on Dick. She was very amused to see that his scowl deepened every time Wally tried flirting with either her or Miss Martian.

Behind them, both Aqualad watched the trio closely. Even though he knew that Wally was only flirting with the two girls as a joke, it didn't sit entirely well with him. Then again he had been given a more proper upbringing in Atlantis, and as his mentor, Aquaman had told him that surface dwellers had odd senses of humour.

_I suppose I'll have to get used to it._

He sighed, only to gulp as Swift turned around and caught his eye. Grinning she, glanced at Wally, rolled her eyes before looking back at him mouthing "Save me".

Aqualad's expression relaxed immediately into a smile, listening as Wally boasted loudly.

"It was hollowed out by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League."

"So why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy asked curiously.

"The cave's secret location was…compromised" Aqualad explained as they looked over a large pond in the bottom of the cave.

"So, they traded it in for a tourist trap? Yeah. That makes sense" Superboy snorted.

"If villains know of the cave we must be on constant alert" Miss Martian looked worriedly at Christine who nodded thoughtfully

"The bad guys know we know that they know about the cave, so they'll never think to look here" Dick swooped in, smoothly detaching Christine from Wally and slinging an arm around her waist.

"He means we're hiding in plain sight" Wally huffed as Dick smirked triumphantly.

Superboy sniffed the air.

"I smell smoke" he announced. Christine sniffed too.

"Yeah, something's burning?"

"Ah! My Cookies!" Miss Martian cried out in alarm flying off down a side passage.

The rest of the team followed her down a couple of hallways till they reached what appeared to be the common room. On one side was a large television with plush comfy green chairs seated around a glass coffee table and a few game consoles. On the opposite side was a kitchen with state of the art appliances and a white marble island in the centre with bar stools.

Christine knew that Batman must have designed this space or at least bought most of the stuff in it. It had his signature style of aesthetic simplicity mixed with extreme functionality. Currently, that last factor was being tested by a large plume of dark smog issuing from the oven in the kitchen.

They all entered as Miss Martian used her telekinesis to take a tray, laden with burnt crumbly disks, out of the oven.

"I was trying out Granny Jones' recipe from episode seventeen of…uh huh never mind" she smiled nervously.

Christine looked down at the cookies and sniffed again. Now that she was closer she could catch a whiff of…

"Hmm is that chocolate?" she asked, eyes sparkling. Miss Martian nodded.

"They're supposed to be Choc Chip" she looked down timidly

"I bet they would've tasted great."

"Yeah he doesn't seem to mind" Dick added jerked his thumb at Wally who was already stuffing his face.

He paused in his gormandizing. "I…have a serious metabolism."

Christine shook her head.

"I'll…make more?" Miss Martian suggested hopefully

"It was sweet of you to make any" Aqualad nodded.

"Thanks, Aqualad"

"We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm." The Atlantian then smiled, blushing a little. "Actually, my friends call me Kaldur."

"I'm Wally" Wally leaned over the counter smirking "See I already trust you with my secret ID, unlike Mr Dark glasses and Miss White over there. Batman's forbidden Boy and Girl Wonder from telling anyone their secret ID's. But it's not so bad, besides, I like a girl with mystery" he winked at Christine who rolled her eyes behind her glasses.

"DUDE quit flirting with my sister!" Dick grunted irritably.

"Mine's no secret," Megan giggled at Dick's face. "It's M'gann M'orzz. But you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now."

Superboy didn't say anything, but Christine saw his face darken as he turned to walk out silently. That was until he turned around and yelled at Megan.

"Get out of my HEAD!"

Christine winced at the volume of his voice.

_With a yell like that he could give Black Canary a run for her money. Urghhh._

Christine and everyone clutched their heads in alarm as M'gann's voice echoed eerily in it.

_What's wrong? I don't understand. Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically_

"M'gann stop," Kaldur said sharply, and Christine felt the weight of M'gann's mind lift out of hers. "Things are different on Earth. Here your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy."

"Besides, CADMUS's creepy little psychic G-Gnomes left a bad taste in his brain" Wally pointed as he stage-whispered to M'gann who was still looking bewildered.

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"Just. Stay. OUT!" Superboy growled before going over to the green lounge and sitting.

"Wow…We need to work on his people skills" Christine mumbled as she caught Kaldur's.

He tilted his head ever so slightly in Superboy's direction. Christine nodded. Maybe when they had a moment the two of them could talk to Superboy quietly and help him out.

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann cried out jumping them all out of their silence "I know what we can do."

She flew back into the corridor. Kaldur and Wally both turned to Dick and Christine who both shrugged. They proceeded to walk out. Christine and M'gann lagged a little peering around the corner. Superboy was still sitting.

"Superboy…please?" M'gann tried.

"Don't talk to me" he turned away, pouting moodily.

Christine saw M'gann look down disappointedly. Rolling her eyes, she rushed over to grab Superboy's arm.

He glared up but then paused at the small smile on her face. Christine pulled, and Superboy stood up, still avoiding M'gann's eyes as they stepped around the corner.

A short while later the six teenage superheroes had approached the hanger where a red, ovoid pod was stationed. It was roughly around the size of a small electrical smart car and was completely solid

"It's my Martian Bio-ship."

Christine walked over to examine it intrigued, wondering if M'gann had to shrink herself to the size of an ant to ride on it.

"uh…Cute" Wally raised his eyebrows "not aerodynamic but cute."

"It's at rest silly" M'gann giggled "I'll wake it."

Christine took a step back as the pod transformed into a large red and black jet like ship.

It turned in midair so that the back faced them, and a door opened smoothly turning into a ramp.

Dick nearly facepalmed at the insanely excited grin that had spread across Christine's face.

_I hope Megan has a good security system on this thing or else Chris's going to hijack it every day!_

They all rushed inside as six seats emerged around them.

"Strap in for launch."

"Woah!" Dick cried out, and Christine squealed with excitement as seatbelts crisscrossed over their chests snugly.

She looked back in her seat at Dick grinning widely. They were both on the ships right, Christine in the front and Dick in the back. Wally chose to sit on the far left behind Kaldur and Superboy occupied centre front

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors," M'gann smiled, as she took the helm at a large seat in the middle of them all. She rested her hands on two light blue globes which had just morphed themselves out of the floor.

The bay doors opened, and everyone braced themselves as the Bio-Ship took off. Christine gazed out the window, eyes wide as she looked over the beautiful pristine waters of the harbour.

Christine had always loved being up high in the air. As a child, she'd dream about flying. She always loved climbing up to high places, (mainly diving boards above swimming pools) and jumping off just to feel the wind in her hair. It gave her a thrill that being on the ground just couldn't do. Sure, she could drive fast vehicles and planes and swing between rooftops, but it wasn't quite the same.

"Wow," she breathed as she looked up at the clouds. They looked like fluffy white cotton candy.

"Incredible!" Dick agreed as he looked out his window.

"She sure is," Wally said dreamily gazing at M'gann.

"Uh…I mean the ship!" Wally backtracked fast when he saw everyone turn towards him "which like all ships is a she"

"Fast with his feet. Not so much with his mouth" Dick smirked devilishly.

"DUDE!" Wally cried out embarrassed.

Christine burst out giggling before turning to look towards Kaldur who caught her eye and quickly glanced forwards at Superboy.

_Of course,_

Christine nodded.

_Superboy must still be upset._

She shifted herself closer as Kaldur leaned and muttered quietly to Superboy.

"We might not have psychic powers, but we know what you're thinking. You overreacted, and you don't know how to apologise"

When the clone didn't look convinced, he looked to Christine.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's straightforward, Superboy. You just have to say sorry." She looked at her hand and noticed briefly how tiny it was on his muscled bicep.

She removed it quickly; brow furrowed as she looked at her fingernails.

"You okay?" Superboy tilted his head at her sudden change in mood.

"Not again." She mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else. "I could've sworn I did them-"

"You mean your nails?" Kaldur frowned as he watched her turn her hand over to examine her digits.

"Yeah, I trimmed them short last night, but look." She held out her hand for them to see. Her nails were long and sharp, and at this length made her slender fingers look more like talons.

"Every time I file them down, they regrow a few hours later" she sighed as she pulled out a nail file from her pocket, muttering darkly, "I swear if I ever get my hands on that Doctor Desmond I'm gonna beat him to hell and back."

Behind them, Dick leaned over to quietly whisper to M'Gann.

"He'll come around."

"He doesn't seem to like me much" she mumbled, eyeing Superboy's stiff back.

"You guys remember he has  _super_ hearing right?" Wally stage-whispered. They all looked at Superboy who bristled slightly.

"Hey how about showing us a little Martian shapeshifting?" Christine piped up smiling at M'gann who brightened up immediately at the change in subject.

Everyone turned around in their seats to watch as M'gann stood up. Instantly a strange wave of colour began snaking up her body from her toes. Lots of blacks flowed up her legs, followed by purple lines and finally a dark cowl fitted with a purple domino mask. It was unmistakably an exact copy of Swift.

"Whoa" Christine felt her eyes bulge outside her sockets as M'gann shifted her position. She promptly turned into a female form of Robin, before twirling and becoming a female version of Kid Flash.

Wally sighed "Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?"

"Very" Christine snorted, though secretly she too thought that the female Wally was adorable.

The real Wally scowled at her, and she shrugged smirking.

"Impressive" Dick clapped as the fem Kid Flash transformed back into M'gann. "But you know you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those"

"Mimicking boys' is a lot harder" M'gann looked down at her feet nervously as she sat back down.

"M'gann, forget mimicking them, just simply understanding boys is a nightmare anyway."

M'gann smiled as Dick and Wally glared at a wickedly smirking Christine.

"And your clothes?" Kaldur asked quickly to divert an argument.

"They're organic like the ship. They respond to my mental commands."

"As long as they're the only ones" Superboy grumbled audibly.

_Ay! We have a long way to go with this one_

Christine resisted the urge to roll her eyes as another small uncomfortable silence followed.

This time Wally decided to break it.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing like Manhunter does?!" he asked eagerly.

"Density shifting?" M'gann looked around nervously "No. It's a very advanced technique."

"Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall." Dick snickered "when he tries. Bloody nose"

He and Christine burst out laughing as Wally let out another cry of "Dude!"

"Here's something I can do," M'gann said as she shifted course to glide over the town "Camouflage mode."

"I don't see any change" Wally looked out of the window.

"Not from in here you won't" Christine looked out of the window and down at the cars on the streets. They looked like little colourful ants from up here.

"I've meant to ask" Kaldur looked at Dick and Christine with a curious expression "Robin you have called Swift your sister and yet-"

"We don't look related?" Christine finished for him.

"We're adopted" Dick added matter of factly.

"I see…" Kaldur nodded in understanding, catching a smirking Wally's eye.

"Yeah but that doesn't stop Bats from scaring off any guy that tries flirting with his little girl." The speedster drawled only to jump as a voice murmured in his ear.

"And yet you do so anyway."

"Jesus! Would you quit sneaking up on me like that!" Wally spluttered as Christine laughed from where she had snuck up to stand behind him.

"That's amazing. I barely heard you move" M'gann grinned in awe as Christine and Dick both shrugged.

"Trained by Batman" Dick grinned, throwing up his hands in a broad 'tadaa' kind of motion.

"To do what? Jazz hands?" Wally snorted.

"Oh my god, can you imagine Batman doing Jazz hands?" Christine laughed and they all burst into giggles. Even Superboy and Kaldur were chuckling in their seats.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian" Everyone sat up alert as the metallic voice of the android could suddenly be heard throughout the ship. "An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending co-ordinates."

"Received. Adjusting course," M'gann acknowledged.

"Tornado's keeping us busy again" Dick huffed as Christine went back to her seat for the descent.

"Well…a simple fire led you to Superboy" M'gann shrugged as they proceeded to land over a large, mostly empty parking lot "We should find out what caused the alert."

"I think I know the cause," Superboy said looking out the ships right window. Christine turned just in time to see the tornado spin across the pavement and into their still airborne craft.

M'gann grunted trying to use her telepathic abilities to stabilise them as they spun uncontrollably, round and round the vortex of wind. Had it not been for the belts that secured them to their chairs they would've all been smashed to a pulp.

Christine closed her eyes to stop herself from getting dizzy as a particularly violent spin, spun them upside down.

_Holy crap! Don't get sick, don't get sick!_

Christine clamped her mouth shut as she felt her stomach jerk violently. Everyone around her was still yelling and holding on, their straps being strained as the ship was thrown around amidst the swirling vortex.

_Gotta get out…find a way somewhere in this-_

The ship jerked, forcing her eyes to fly open. She could see the crisscrossing interlace of the wind vortex through the front windows. Now that she looked at it carefully, the wind did look like it had been woven together. She gasped as through the corner of her eye she spotted a glimpse of the car park.

"M'gann!" Christine called "Go right!"

M'gann complied immediately, and the Bio-Ship flew out of the tornado. It hovered over the ground, and they jumped out of an organic hole in the floor as the storm moved back around the power plant.

Christine could hear people screaming in terror.

"Robin, are tornados common in New England? Robin? Swift" Kaldur called out turning around, but the two birds weren't there.

Christine spotted Dick a little way ahead as his small black form disappeared into the building.

_Oh, please don't get too cocky Wonder Boy_

She pumped her legs harder shooting her grapple gun and hoisting herself up onto an open window. She looked down just as Dick flipped out of the way of a twister.

"ROBIN!" she yelled about to jump down to his side.

"Swift look out!" he called out.

Christine looked up just as a large gust of wind hit her face. She closed her eyes as she was thrown aside and into a wall hard.

She fell to the floor, groaning as a tall robotic figure loomed over her. Its base coat was red, and it had a black stripe going down the middle. It was wearing dark blue metallic armour over its sides and arms with light blue tubes connecting the arms to two chutes on the back. The robot looked down on her, eyeing her white hair and yellow eyes that peeked out from her skewed glasses.

"Hmm…interesting…" the voice was metallic but possessed emotion. At the moment it sounded curious.

_Advanced AI…T.O. Morrow…or….?_

She readied herself into a fighting stance pulling out her purple utility belt from under her clothes. The robot fired an enormous twister at her, only for his blast to hit the concrete wall as she leapt out of the way at the last second.

"Hmm, you're fast. But not fast enough." Christine thought if the android could, he probably would have been narrowing his eyes at her.

Dick just stared at his partner, a million questions clouding his head. Though he and Swift had been trained to peak physical condition by Batman, he'd never seen her move or react so fast to any attack. She wasn't moving super fast like Wally, but it was still too quick to be normal.

_Just what did Desmond's formula do to her._

Dick wondered as he watched her tilt her head deftly at the smallest sound of the Android's clinking armour and dodged him as he tried to attack from behind.

Taking advantage of the android's momentary pause to recalibrate, Christine aimed a few exploding birdarangs down at him. He spotted them and created a small twister which caught the discs in midair and tossed them back at her.

"Uh oh," she jumped away just in time as the birdarangs exploded. She positioned herself, legs first, and sprung off the android's helmet head. She smirked mid flip but then her eyes widened as she saw Dick come hurtling into her, head first into her stomach.

There was the crunch of cement cracking as the birds crashed into a pillar. The android had aimed a twister at him which had caused the two of them to collide in midair.

Christine got on all fours groggily, searching for her glasses, which had been knocked off her face. Even as she combed the floor, she realised something. Her eyesight was clear. She had always had blurred vision but had been able to handle it, only really needing her glasses for reading. Now everything was crystal clear.

She could read the exit sign on the far end of the room in perfect clarity, could see the shadows of her partner as he got to his feet just in her peripheral. She could also see the shattered remains of her glasses, glimmering on the floor.

_Well, this explains why my glasses have been bothering me. I don't bloody need them anymore._

"Argh! Screw this." she scowled, leaping up to her feet and kicking the scraps of metal and glass away.

She heard a faint crunching of feet and saw Superboy land next to her and Dick glaring at the android.

"Who's your new friend?"

"Didn't catch his name but he plays kinda rough" Dick yelled.

"My apologies," the android said smugly. "You may address me as Mister Twister."

"Good now I know what to call you when I send your scraps to the incinerator" Christine snarled under her breath as she saw Superboy fly backwards into the wall.

"He broke your glasses, didn't he?" Despite the situation around him, Dick was somewhat amused as he saw her eyebrow twitch.

Kaldur nodded at M'gann as Wally pulled out his red goggles. The three of them rushed at Twister who flung them away effortlessly with his wind vortexes.

Dick and Christine both stood up glaring as Twister spoke once again.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not, however, expecting children."

"We're not children" Dick yelled throwing his red birdarangs at the android. One disrupted his twister abilities, and the other lodged itself in its chest, but it was flicked away before it could explode.

"Objectively you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence quite disturbing."

"Right and your presence isn't? But seriously we'd hate to see you disturbed" Christine narrowed her eyes at Twister as Kaldur, M'gann and Superboy ran to their side. Wally it seemed was still out for the count in the car park where he'd landed.

"Let's see if you're more  **turbed**  once we kick your can!" Dick agreed.

M'gann put her palms forward using her telekinesis to break apart a piece of equipment hanging from the ceiling. It landed on Twister creating a screen of dust which Superboy used to cover his aerial attack. However, he was unsuccessful as Twister blew him back into a flying M'gann with a massive gust of wind.

Christine, Dick and Kaldur rushed forwards arming themselves, the birds with their birdarangs and the Atlantean with his electric sorcery.

Twister aimed two twisters at the three of them. Like before Christine was quick enough to sense the attack and leap away, only to wince as Dick and Kaldur, who had been hit by the wind vortexes crashed into her from both sides, sandwiching her painfully.

She landed on the ground with a thud hearing the footsteps of the android leaving. Groaning she rolled over almost into Dick who was on all fours. They stood up along with the others and unsteadily walked over to the exit where a massive explosion had just happened.

As the dust cleared, they saw Wally hovering in the air.

"I got you Wally" M'gann lowered the speedster from her telekinetic hold. They turned to see Mister Twister on the far side of the car park.

"I would've thought you all would've learned your limitations by now," he thundered.

"What do you want?" Kaldur yelled angrily.

"Isn't it obvious?" Twister rose up into the air "I'm waiting for a real hero."

"Read his mind and find a weakness!"

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?!"

"It's okay with the bad guys" Dick yelled angrily.

M'gann concentrated for a moment before exclaiming angrily "Nothing! I'm getting nothing!" then she hit her head in a 'duh' action "Hello Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic, an android! How many androids do you know that can generate tornados?"

Christine was about to agree when she looked the android up and down. No…there was something wrong with that statement. Red Tornado would never attack them or endanger civilians. It was against his programming.

_But if he's not Red Tornado then where did he come from? Who designed him?_

She thought only to bristle as she felt a slight shift in the wind.

"Guys!" she called out, stopping her friends' tirade of insults they were aiming at the android.

They all looked up just as Mister Twister raised both his hands over his head. Two tornados rose into the sky and met. The sky grew dark and the wind began howling around them.

"An impressive show" Kaldur was still quite angry "We will not indulge you! We will not engage."

Christine gulped as she saw lightning form in the eye of the storm.

"Uh…can Red Tornado do that" Wally shuddered.

"You think I'm Tornado? Ironic"

There was a loud explosion, but Christine wasn't caught in it like the others. She had tried to roll away, only to be caught in a gust of wind that Twister had conjured. Though she struggled fiercely, it was no use, and she was dragged up into his grip.

"You think you're so clever, trying to escape my power?" He gripped her body in a singular large robotic hand. She cried out in pain as a loud snapping sound came from her side. One of her ribs had cracked. She could hear the crunching of dirt and Superboy's grunt as he leapt up to her aid only to be struck down by another shot of lightning.

"Superboy!" she cried out. Her cry startled Twister and seeing his distraction, she aimed a slap in his face, not noticing her long claw-like nails scraping into his face.

There was a screeching of something grating against metal, and Mister Twister roared, letting go of his prey and clutching at his face, where four long scars had scraped into the metal.

Christine meanwhile, screamed as she was let go, her body hurtling to the ground at top speed. Hearing her yell, Superboy reached out mid-air and grabbed at her body.

With a swift tug, he wrapped his arms around her and twisted himself so that he landed on his back first, cushioning their fall as they tore across the grass to the others.

They both groaned in pain. Christine turned her head to the side saw M'gann sit up a little further away as Twister hovered above them, lightning crackling in his palms.

Then she saw the android stop.

"Fine then! I won't deny you children have power. But playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives so stay concealed! If you confront me again, I will show no mercy."

The android flew away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Christine rolled off Superboy. She clutched her head as she stumbled over to her feet. She'd banged her skull against Superboy's breastbone when they'd landed, and it was throbbing. Who knew that Kryptonian skeletons were so hard?

"What happened?" Wally asked.

"I put the Bio-Ship between us" M'gann explained.

"And that's supposed to make it right?" Superboy was on his feet angrily storming back to the group. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado."

"She didn't do it on purpose" Kaldur stood to M'gann's defence.

"It was a rookie mistake; we shouldn't have listened" Dick straightened up.

"You are pretty inexperienced" Wally shoved his hands into his pockets "Hit the showers, we'll take it from here."

"Stay out of our way" Superboy growled before speeding off. Wally joined him.

Christine and Dick followed the former keeping her distance from the latter as they ran. She briefly turned to see Kaldur following behind, leaving M'gann sitting to sulk alone by the ship.

They'd been running for a couple of hours when Christine felt a gust of wind above them and heard the faintest of rustles. She smirked slightly and skidded to a stop, panting as Dick and Kaldur ran back to her side.

"Go on ahead" she puffed

"Are you sure?" Kaldur asked concerned.

"Yeah! I need to catch my breath; I'll be there as soon as I can" she waved them both off. The two boys looked at each other before reluctantly running ahead.

As soon as they were out of sight, Christine looked up.

"You can de-camouflage now M'gann."

She saw the Bio-Ship as it descended to land in front of her. The back door opened, and she ran inside.

M'gann was at the helm, looking nervously at her.

"Listen…about before I-" she mumbled, but Christine cut across her.

"It's okay. You need more practice is all. You should've seen me when I first started out. One time I got captured by Penguin's goons because I was super clumsy and tripped over an oil barrel."

The two girls grinned at one another for a moment, until Christine quickly coughed.

"Where to?"

"The harbour. See, right next to those little boats just there?" Christine pointed to the spot through the front window. From their place, they could see the entire harbour. M'gann nodded before standing up.

"I have a plan to get rid of Twister." she stepped down from the helm "Can you drive?"

Christine's face split into a wide excited grin as she ran up to the large seat. 

* * *

They were up in the air, Christine flying the Bio-Ship above the clouds and M'gann flying alongside by herself.

M'gann couldn't help but smile Christine performed a couple of loop de loops. She had to admit it; the girl was a natural at flying the bioship.

_You ready for this?_

She asked telepathically

_Let's do this_

Christine replied, her excitement turning into seriousness in an instant.

The ship cloaked as they flew lower. Christine kept her eyes on the boys on the ground ahead as M'gann transformed into a replica of Red Tornado.

_Listen to me all of you!_

She heard the Martian girl's voice in her head as she addressed the team at large.

"What did we tell you?" came the distant yell of Superboy from the ground. Christine could now see Twister in their centre.

_I know!_

M'gann replied.

_I know I messed up. But now we're very clear on what we must do. Please trust me!_

_What do you mean we?_

It was Dick's voice. Christine smiled as she listened to M'gann relay the plan to the boys who all seemed shocked at first but listened intently.

Christine stayed hovering in the ship. She used it to cover different bunches of civilians so that they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Finally, once all the civilians were gone, she landed the ship.

She sat back and watched as M'gann, in Red Tornado's form was taken down by Twister.

Oh, the joke was going to be on him now.

She smirked as Twister fell backwards into a water trap and exploded. A man hobbled out of the wrecked suit.

Christine landed the ship as M'gann levitated a rock and smashed it down on the man.

She opened the ramp of the ship, and Dick's angry cries hit her ears.

"Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't execute her captives. AND YOU LETTING HER DO IT!" he yelled suddenly turning towards Christine as she walked towards him, Kaldur, Wally and Superboy.

"You said you'd trust her" she smirked raising her eyebrows as M'gann used her telekinesis to lift the giant rock.

Beneath it, the destroyed scraps of a metallic body and detailed electrical wiring were revealed.

"That's why I couldn't read his mind" M'gann and Christine both looked rather smug as all the boy's eyes widened in shock.

Eventually, Wally stepped towards the ruined android.

"Cool." He picked up an electronic eyeball which had rolled out of its metal socket. "Souvenir"

"Anything you boys would like to say?" Christine folded her arms as she stood next to M'gann. They all nodded somewhat sheepishly.

"We should've had more faith in you" Kaldur put a hand on M'gann's shoulder.

"Yeah. You rocked this mission! Get it 'rocked'?" Wally grinned.

Dick sighed and shook his head.

"Ignore him. We're all just turbed you're on the team."

They all smiled.

* * *

**_An hour later…_ **

They were back at the cave, Twister's body and suit laid out on a table as they reported to the real Red Tornado.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you" Kaldur narrowed his eyes with disgust at the parts.

"Agreed" Red Tornado looked up at them all.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked worriedly.

"No. This was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me."

Christine looked up from her holo-computer surprised.

"But if you're in danger-" she began, but Tornado cut across her robotically.

"Consider this matter closed."

 _"_ Man and I thought Batman was bad" Christine snorted, hands on her hips as the Android turned on his heel.

"Yeah but, Batman, Aquaman and Flash, they'd have jumped right in to fix things" Wally muttered. He was working across from Christine, beside Dick who frowned and sighed.

"Guess if we're going to have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need."

"Dude! Harsh" Wally pointed out as Christine glared at her brother.

"And inaccurate." Red Tornado's voice suddenly said. They all jumped to their feet in surprise "I have a heart. Carbon Steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing."

Christine smirked as Dick fumbled.

"Right. Sorry. I'll strive to be…more accurate."

"And more respectful" Kaldur raised an eyebrow at the younger boy. Dick sheepishly grinned as two beeps sounded.

"Speedy was so wrong," Wally smirked as they headed towards the corridor.

"This team thing…" Dick started.

"Might just work out" Kaldur agreed. He was about to follow Dick and Wally before turning to Christine. "Are you coming?"

"Ah ha! Done" Christine smiled as she shut down her computer screen. "The scans are ready. Now I just have to get them to Batman when I go home" the two of them paused quietly before looking back.

They saw Superboy from a distance as he approached M'gann and muttered a small sorry.

Christine and Kaldur both smiled at each other, before going around the corner. Neither teen knew it, but Superboy decided to follow them. He'd kept his distance, not wanting to disturb until he heard his name.

"I'm glad Superboy's getting settled in," Kaldur said softly.

"So am I" Christine agreed. They paused letting M'gann levitate past them in a rush before Kaldur spoke again.

"But I'm still worried. He has so much still to learn and without Superman-"

"I know," Christine sighed before smiling softly "but we'll be there for him. We'll  _all_  be there for him. We're a team. He won't need Superman because we'll be his family."

Kaldur nodded.

"You're right…" his smile grew wider as he ruffled her hair softly with one hand "We will."

Superboy stopped as they turned a corner. He touched his chest. A warm something had flared in it when he'd heard that last sentence. He frowned concentrating hard. He'd felt that warmth before…when he'd first talked to Kaldur, Swift, Robin and Wally back at CADMUS. He didn't understand why but the feeling made him smile.

"… family? " he murmured.

He began walking again, the warmth in him propelling him forwards as he reached the common room.

Swift was between Wally and Robin on the couch, the former trying to snuggle up with her while the latter was seething and tugging her away.

He saw Kaldur who was sitting on the couch opposite them watching the scene with mild amusement while M'gann bustled her way around the kitchen preparing a snack. He watched her for a minute, eyeing the way her skirt and hair swished and the way her brows crinkled in concentration as she checked the oven.

"It's now or never Swift! Make your choice" Wally's voice wafted into his ears. He turned to see Christine being held between the redhead and raven-haired boys by the arms like a rag doll.

"What are my options…" she looked between the two of them exasperatedly.

"Well…" Wally smirked "you can have a smoking red-haired speedster like me, or," he grinned evilly at Robin who glowered "you can have a short little bird-boy."

"Hey! Who are you calling short?" Dick yelled angrily.

"hmm…tough choice" Christine smirked, "You're both  _so_  tempting, but I'm gonna have to refuse."

"WHAT!" Wally cried out as giggling Christine skipped over to Superboy.

"Close your eyes and open your arms wide" she grinned at him. He did as he was told, frowning slightly as he did.

Suddenly he felt her arms wrap around his chest. "Now put your arms around me."

Superboy hesitated. He opened his eyes, looking down at her as she squeezed him tight. She was so small against him. Her head barely reached his chest. What if he crushed her by accident? Cautiously he looped his arms around her and tried as gently as he could to mimic her squeeze.

He looked around the room uncertainly. Everyone else had turned to watch, smiling warmly at the two, even Wally and Robin.

"What are we doing?" he asked unsurely.

"It's called a hug" Swift broke away to smile up at him.

"A hug?"

"Uh-hmm" she nodded hugged him again. "Welcome to the family, Superboy"

* * *

_**Gotham City Catacombs, July 18, 21:27 EST** _

Batman's footfalls were silent as he strode through the Gotham City Catacombs.

Like the sewers above, the Catacombs were exceptionally cold and filthy. Water leaked from the ceiling, filling the air with the faint sounds of soft dripping. Many a cobweb cluttered the ceilings and walls while several rats scurried about through holes and crevices.

It was at these critters that Superman cringed as he floated quietly behind the Dark Knight who had lit a torch to light his path.

"Love what you've done with the place" the Man of Steel muttered to lighten the rather grim atmosphere.

"It's been like this for years," Batman growled, rolling his eyes. Just because he dressed like a bat didn't mean he liked dim and dank places like this. On the contrary, they disgusted him, and he only learned to tolerate them because it was part of his job.

"This is our stop" he muttered as after a few more meters they finally stopped beside a thin open chasm on the wall to their left.

Batman quietly shone his torch down into it, revealing a long narrow passageway with a grimy electronic door at the end and a low ceiling.

"Watch your step" the Dark Knight ordered as Superman quickly floated back to walk behind him.

It was a little bit of a squeeze, but eventually, the two bulky heroes made it to the doorway, which Batman was quick to hack open.

Superman followed, his eyes widening in awe at the scene that met his eyes as his friend turned the lights on.

They appeared to be standing in a laboratory, dimly lit by eerie green-white lights.

There was a desk on the far end, flanked by two large bookshelves. The one on its left was full to bursting with books and journals. However, the bookcase on the other side was crammed with many different sized jars. In these jars various birds, mainly owls, and their various body parts like wings, feet and internal organs floated, suspended in some liquid.

On the other side of the room, a large table stood with various vials and glass beakers littering its surface. Some were filled with different coloured liquids, but all were covered in a thick layer of dust.

But it was the sight on the wall opposite the door that had Superman stumped. It was a large, genomorph pod. Like the pods, they'd found at Cadmus, fitted with many various wires that connected the pod to a nearby computer terminal. However, unlike the Cadmus pods, it appeared to be much older, and the pod's transparent holding capsule was empty.

"What is this place?" the Man of Steel wondered aloud as he stared at the desk where he now noticed several papers sticking out of a nearby drawer.

"I found it nearly fourteen years ago during my first year of Crime Fighting. From what I've been able to uncover it appears to have been the precursor to Project Cadmus before it got the funding from Lex Corp" Batman explained as he strode over to the computer console and rebooted it. "Christine's father and I were tracking down Killer Croc. We were hunting for him through the sewers when I stumbled upon it accidentally. Thankfully, whoever owned this place wasn't here, so I was able to get inside without a fight. That's when…that's when I found her…"

His voice trailed off as his gaze turned to the pod.

"What? You-you mean Christine?" Superman spluttered in confusion. "But I thought- her League profile says she was born at her birth parents' chateau in France-"

"That's because I altered the profile." Batman's scowl darkened "She was born here, under Gotham, in that pod."

"And you never told her-"

"No" Batman snapped "And you aren't to tell her either. Not until we're sure of what's going on."

"But-"

"Trust me Clark, its safer for her sake that she doesn't know what you've seen here today."

"But Bruce this is serious. Not just for her but for the league as well. You've been secretly looking after a potentially dangerous genomorph experiment for fourteen years-"

"So, what, are saying I should've just left her here? Are you, Superman, the man who claims to love kids, saying that I should've just left an infant in this pod to be experimented on and turned into a living weapon?!" Batman snarled over the top of the Man of Steel, cowl slits narrowing dangerously.

"It's not-I'm not saying that at all!" Superman shook his head as he tried to sputter out an answer "I'm just saying you should've told someone-"

"Told who, Clark? There was no Justice League until two years after I found her! And she was already happily settled with her father."

"And did he know? About all well,  _this_?" Superman gestured to the lab at large.

"Yes, he did. And we agreed we'd keep a close eye on her as she got older. Why do you think I was so against her joining me three years ag-" but Batman's tirade was stopped as Superman suddenly pressed a hand over his mouth.

"SHh…listen" the Man of Steel whispered.

Batman stilled in his spot, only his fingers moving as they calibrated the sound sensors in the ears of his cowl.

Something was moving somewhere beyond the door.

_Could it be Croc, but no Croc couldn't fit in that corridor no matter how hard he tri-_

"Argh!" Superman suddenly doubled over, clutching at his head.

"Superman!" Batman reached out for his ally as he sank to the floor, but before he could even touch his friend, something sharp flew past his face.

He turned around just in time to be struck hard in the face by a heavy metal fist.

_Who are they?_

Batman grunted as he slammed painfully into the wall. His eyes widened as he straightened up and finally caught sight of his attacker in full.

They were tall and muscled, wearing an armoured black and grey Kevlar suit with a black chest holster filled with knives. Their face was covered b what appeared to be a black helmet with golden goggles with red lenses, accented by wing-like metal embellishments and a small metal beak just above the nose. Their right arm was armed in a gold metal gauntlet that matched their black and gold metal shoulder plates.

In their left black hand with golden claws, a sharp piece of glowing green kryptonite was clasped firmly ready to strike as they bore down on the now weak and barely conscious Superman.

With an angry growl, Batman leapt forward striking the assailant back. They quickly recovered, aiming swipes at the Bat with their knives and sharp kryptonite. With expert precision, Batman dodged and blocked each of the hits, doing what he could to lure the shadow away from Superman who was struggling desperately to his hands and knees.

In his desperation, the Man of Steel managed to grab onto the small chair in front of the pod computer console and chucked it blindly at the attacker.

The chair missed, but it allowed Batman to punch the shadowy figure in the face and snatch the Kryptonite from its grip.

Deftly he shoved it into a lead-lined compartment of his utility belt, darting out of the way as their assailant aimed another knife at his head.

But his attack was short lived as Superman, now relieved of the pressure of the Kryptonite radiation, leapt shakily into the air and aimed his heat ray vision at the dark shadow.

"Crap" a masculine voice muttered from beneath the helmet, and at once the figure began to run backwards for the door.

"oh no you don't-" Batman and Superman both lunged for the shadow as it leapt out the door, throwing something over its shoulder behind them.

Something that was small round, beeping and flashing red.

"Look out!" Superman cried out, flying down to shove the Caped Crusader down to the ground just as the small round bomb, exploded.

There was a big flash of light and a loud  _KABOOM!_

Batman's ears rang as he felt the entire structure around them tremble and rumble all about him and Superman, who quickly flew away from where he had shielded him from the blast on the floor, to support the roof above that was now beginning to give way.

"It's no use; the whole place is too unstable. We've got to get out now!" Superman grunted as he tried his best to support the crumbling structure above.

Batman, however, wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed on the lab.

Nearly most of it was decimated. The genomorph pod lay in pieces on the floor, and half the jars with animal parts were strewn and smearing the walls.

The desk had all but been decimated, save for one desk drawer that now lay half open just a foot away from his head, in which something white was peeking out of.

Quickly the Dark Knight snatched at it, just as Superman let go of the destroyed ceiling and reached out to grab him as he flew out the door.

Even as they flew down the narrow pathway, they could hear the loud bangs and crashes as the ceiling behind them caved in, and by the time they'd reached the catacombs again, there was nothing behind them but a pile of rocks.

"That was close" Superman panted as he floated himself and Batman down to the ground. "I can't see him anywhere. Maybe he's gone up to the sewers-"

"Don't bother. Whoever he was, he was trained extremely well. You won't find him anytime soon even with your powers. Besides he's probably long gone by now." Batman snorted grimly, looking down at his cargo in his hands.

It appeared to be a plain white oval mask, with two round eyeholes and what seemed to be a small beak embossed into the front. Now that he looked at it carefully, the face reminded him strongly of an owl.

"What's that you're holding?" Superman pointed to the mask.

"I'm not sure" Batman turned it over scowling darkly. "But whoever attacked us wanted it destroyed along with the rest of the lab."

"But if that's the case then why not destroy it years ago when you first found it?" Superman frowned at Batman who stared down at the mask thoughtfully.

"Because back then we had no idea about Project Cadmus or the genomorphs." Batman growled straightening up. "fly us back to the Zeta-tubes and then you go to the Watchtower. Tell the others what happened."

"Where will you go?" Superman asked worriedly.

"To the Batcave. I need to examine this more closely" Batman muttered as he tucked the white mask in the band of his belt, his mind racing with questions.

Just who was that attacker? How had he found them? How did he get his hands on that Kryptonite? Why did he destroy the lab?

Batman sighed heavily.

It was going to be a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was Episode 3 done.
> 
> So now we get a bit more explanation about Swift's transformation. She is a Genomorph, but an older one than Superboy, and that's why she had a reaction to the Venom. Those of you who read the previous chapter have probably noticed I edited Swift's new eye colour from purple to yellow-orange. I figured it would fit more with what I have in store for her later. And to those that read the Batman Comics you probably already can guess the thread of her story and what happened there in the end with Batman and Superman. The design for the villain is closely based on one of Phil Bourassa's dc character designs for...well i'll let you guys figure it out ;P
> 
> From what I've read the JL seemed to have been formed while Swift would've been really small, so when she was born it probably didn't exist yet. and because we know the B-Man's secretive, I figured he wouldn't tell anyone about his protege's true origins. It also would explain his line "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus" in Episode 1. That line's always bugged me, as there was no obvious explanation given that made Cadmus seem suspicious at all until that point. Even after Cadmus was destroyed, Batman's reasons for suspecting it, since the beginning, were never given.
> 
> Anyways i hope you guys enjoyed, and you know the drill, keep reviewing for more.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	4. Drop Zone

**_The Batcave, July 22, 03:23 EST 2010,_ **

Bruce Wayne looked down at the white mask in his hands.

Even after a week of examining it, he still could not make out hide nor hair of its origins or meaning. Then there was that masked assailant that had attacked him and Superman.

The Batman was used to dealing with mysterious, threatening characters, yet there was something familiar about the figure that he could not quite put his finger on.

It was something about the way they moved and fought; he was sure he'd seen it somewhere before…

 _Time to put this into evidence_.

He sighed heavily as he carefully stepped into the evidence locker and deposited it onto the emptiest rotating shelf.

He would look at it later.

Right now, he had a case to solve and a group of teens whom he had to prepare a mission for.

Even so, he couldn't help but chance one last glance at the dark eyeholes of the white mask.

He shivered.

He might not know much about where it came from, but he did know two things. Firstly, it was, without a doubt, the creepiest thing he'd ever laid eyes on, and secondly, it was sure to bring nothing but trouble.

He could only hope he would solve its secrets before anything terrible happened.

* * *

_**The Caribbean Sea, July 22, 20:08 ECT, 2010** _

They were seated in the Bio-Ship flying over moonlit clouds. Despite the serenity of their surroundings, the atmosphere in the ship was tenser then one of Green Arrows drawn bowstrings.

The reason for this tension?

It was the team's first official mission from Batman. Swift sat on the far left of the ship behind Robin, Aqualad and Superboy to her right. Kid Flash was centre front, and Miss Martian was steering at the helm.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca," she said. She was quiet, but they all jumped as if she'd yelled it out. Goes to show what nerves can do to you.

Her thoughts wandered back to three hours earlier.

* * *

_"Isla Santa Prisca" Batman stood in front of holographic screens which showed the map of an island in the middle of the Caribbean._

_Swift had to shake her head slightly to clear it of the Pirates of the Caribbean tune that was now playing over in her mind._

_"This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid, a strength-enhancing drug, sold on the street, named Venom."_

_The screens changed to show blueprints of a facility._

_"Infrared heat signatures indicate that their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in" He turned to face the team finger pointed._

_"This is a **covert recon** mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene it will." He turned back to the screen._

_"The plan requires two drop zones."_

_"So who's in charge?" Robin piped in._

_Batman and Red Tornado exchanged quick glances before the former stated quickly._

_"Work that out between you"_

* * *

Swift's thoughtful expression turned sour under both her mouth and domino masks. It was unusual for Batman not to be prepared to answer a question and even rarer for him to not know an answer. She eyed Robin's smirk from his spot in front of her.

If she used logic, Superboy and Miss Martian were far too inexperienced to be the leader, and Kid Flash was way too impulsive. That left Robin, Aqualad and of course herself.

No not herself.

Swift bit her lip. It wasn't that she wasn't confident in her skills; quite the opposite.

She had been trained by the Batman even before Robin came on the scene. Of course, he'd never initially intended for her to join him on his crusade. He had just agreed to train her to keep her busy whenever she stayed during times her birth father was fighting overseas for the Army.

She looked up at the half moon. Its white light reminded her of the glow from the large Bat-computer. She smiled remembering fondly how at age seven; she used to sneak from her bedroom and into the Batcave to listen in as her mentor read out the facts of one of his cases to Alfred.

No, she couldn't be the leader and nor could Robin. They'd both worked too much with Batman; they were both too used to his ways. It would take time to create a new dynamic for this team. Neither of them was ready to lead it, yet.

That left Aqualad as their only option. Swift glanced at the Atlantean boy from behind her purple domino mask. He was sitting with his hands on his knees looking out of his window. Yes…Aqualad would have to be their leader. He was calm, collected and decisive and knew how to communicate with most of the team effectively.

The white slits of her eyes narrowed as she saw the dark looming shape grow on the surface of the ocean.

"Drop Zone A in thirty" Swift announced as a timer appeared on a holo-screen.

Aqualad stood up and tapped his belt buckle. Instantly his top morphed from red to dark grey stealth mode. "Ready" he nodded.

"Putting Bio-Ship in camouflage mode" Miss Martian nodded. As she began lowering the ship towards the waters, Aqualad positioned himself into a diving position. A hole appeared in the ground before him, and he leapt down, entering the water smoothly.

Swift watched Aqualad's progress on the holographic map in front of her. After a couple of tense minutes, she saw his dot appear on the island and pause. She sighed in relief as she heard his voice in her com.

_"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in"_

"Roger that" she turned to the others "he did it."

Miss Martian smiled nervously but adjusted their course.

They all stood up, and their chairs disappeared as Miss Martian flew over Drop Zone B, which was over the Island itself. Lines dropped in front of them, and Swift attached hers to her belt as did Robin.

"How cool is this?" Kid Flash tapped the lightning symbol on his chest, and his suit changed colour. It turned black and dark grey.

"Very impressive" Miss Martian smirked as her skirt, and top combo turned into a black bodysuit with a red X.

"Uh, that works too" Kid muttered.

"Nice" Swift gave a thumbs up to show her approval as she hooked herself onto a zip line. Unlike the others, hers and Robins suits were already well equipped for stealth, and so they had refused all offers of new gear.

"Hey Supey, it's not too late to put on the new stealth tech" Wally smirked at Superboy who glowered, crossing his arms.

"No capes, no tights, no offence."

"It totally works for you," Miss Martian said a slightly dreamy expression on her face. They all looked at her, and she started "...In that, you can totally do good work in those clothes" she mimicked Swift's thumb up.

Superboy turned away abruptly, and Miss Martian pulled her cape's hood over her as she cloaked herself.

" **Suit**  yourself" Robin smirked.

Swift shook her head and sighed as Miss Martian flew through the hole in the floor. "You and your puns."

"You know you love them" he winked mischievously.

"What? You or your puns?" she snorted.

"Both"

"…hmm …nope. They're too cheesy." Swift rolled her eyes beneath her mask as Robin gave a small cackle.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me" Kid Flash sniggered, earning himself a tongue poke from the boy wonder as he and his partner smoothly jumped down their lines.

 _How are those two always so in sync without any telepathy?_ Aqualad's thought echoed in Kid Flash's head as he slid down his zip line

 _Yeah, I know, and I thought my uncle and I were telepathically close._ M'gann smiled.

 _It wasn't always like that._ Kid Flash rolled his eyes fondly, as he zipped down his rope.  _You should've seen the two when they first met. They couldn't stand one another._

 _Are you kidding?_  Superboy thought incredulously, and Robin just shook his head laughing.

_Nope, not really. I thought she was a pampered, stuck-up brat._

_And I thought he was a cocky little show-off._ Swift chuckled.

 _To be fair, both of us were right about one another._ Robin smirked as he heard Kid Flash huff.

_At least you were called cocky show-off. She called me a hungry, hyperactive, dumb hamster when we first met._

_Well, I wasn't wrong, was I? And you've got to admit that was some good alliteration._ Swift's smirked slyly as all the team laughed.

Even Kid Flash chuckled as he landed, only to leap away very fast as Superboy jumped from the ship, without his line. His landing was hard and was still sending tremors through the earth as he straightened up in the middle of a small crater.

"Knew I didn't need a line" he smirked.

"Be that as it may…"Swift grunted as she got to her feet.

"Creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the  **covert** " Robin snapped as she pulled him up to stand.

"Aqualad," Miss Martian said through her com, ignoring the others "Drop B is a go."

" _Head for the factory_ " Aqualad puffed on his end " _I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP."_

"Roger that" Robin nodded putting off his holo-computer.

"If we make way for the river, going against the flow we should be able to find the factory's waste disposal systems" Swift pointed into a clump of bushes on their left. The others nodded. They made their way through the trees towards the river.

They followed it for some time until they reached a waterfall. As they approached it, Swift felt the wind shift strangely. She stopped in her tracks. It was blowing upwards back to the top of the large rock beside them.

"Swift?" Kid Flash turned to look at her. The others kept walking ahead.

"You go on ahead with Dick. I'll catch up" she muttered.

"Are you sure? I could stay as back up" Kid looked at Robin's back as he said this. He didn't think that his best friend would be too happy that he had let his sister scout out on her own, even if she had been trained by Batman.

"I'm just going to the top of the cliff to get a lay of the land." She groaned in irritation. "I won't take long."

"hmm…alright. But call us if there's any trouble."

Swift nodded and gave the speedster a thumb up before he sped off into the bushes. As soon as he was gone, she clicked her grapple gun and swung herself upwards.

She had to climb the last few meters on her own but still reached within two minutes. It was a good thing her costume was mostly dark because the top of the rock was completely flat and open. She pulled out her small binoculars and did a 360-degree turn. It took her a couple of complete revolutions before she spotted a building in the distance at the foot of a small mountain.

"Gotcha" she muttered.

"You've found it?"

Swift wheeled around as Aqualad straightened himself up by the edge of the rock. He was puffing slightly and was still soaking wet from his swim.

"Yeah found it" Swift sighed as she turned back to look at the facility, opening her computer. It took all she had not to stare at the droplets of water trickling down his muscular suited chest.

"You're not joining the others?" she squinted at the screen as she felt him stand beside her.

"I saw you separate from Kid Flash and Robin on the GPS. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's fine. I just thought it might be good to get my bearings before I go down there. Don't worry I made sure KF knew where I was going."

"Good" Aqualad nodded as she tapped her comm.

"You're all on the right path, but be careful. There might be some mines ahead so go into the trees when you can."

" _Roger that. Where are you? Kid said you stayed behind at the waterfall?_ "

She rolled her eyes at Robin's urgent tones. Why did everyone always worry so much about her? She knew she was the shortest and…no she wasn't the youngest of the team, Robin was. She was older than him by a month, even if she was shorter than him by an inch.

"I'm keeping watch from the top of that cliff that was next to it. Don't worry Aqualad's with me" she reassured her partner, missing the small amused quirk of Aqualad's lips as he glanced at her.

" _Aqualad, huh?_ " she could almost hear her partner roll his eyes while she heard Kid Flash's snigger on the other end. There was a beep as she shut the comlink off.

_What the hell was that about?_

But she didn't have much time to worry about Robin.

"Shit!" she swore as she quickly squatted down.

"What's wrong?" Aqualad grunted as Swift pulled him down to crouch beside her. The voices of a group of men hit their ears. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they didn't sound friendly. She put her binoculars to her eyes again.

"That's strange," she muttered under her breath. The men's red uniforms looked familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out why.

"A patrol?" Aqualad asked.

"Maybe…but we should probably go down to the others." Swift shrugged. Aqualad nodded. They waited for a couple of seconds as the group passed the base of their rock, before jumping down.

"Superboy, Kid. Switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked" Aqualad hissed as he ran on the forest floor. Swift took to the trees, her footfalls barely making any noise on each of the branches as she swung between them.

The two of them ran for five minutes or so when they both heard the first gunshot.

"Swing wide, steer clear!"

" _Yeah yeah. Just as soon as I find Rob._ " Kid grumbled on his end.

"What? Where is he?" Swift hissed.

" _You tell me-uwaa!_ "

"KF!" Swift gasped as she heard the scratching and grinding of dirt in her ears. She accelerated herself as she listened to a couple of loud thumps in her ear that signalled Kid's messy landing.

"KF are you alright?" she whispered urgently. "KF!"

" _So much for the stealthy_ ", she heard him say as she leapt down to run alongside Aqualad. Then several loud bangs popped into her ears.

Swift's blood ran cold as panic seized her.

"Kid!"

"Swift wait!" Aqualad grabbed her shoulders to stop her baulking forwards into the fray "You can't just run in there, they have guns!"

"But Kid-" Swift gulped.

"-Has super speed." Aqualad finished calmly, still holding her back firmly "But we don't. Keep to the shadows try to attack from the edges Alright?"

"Alright…I got it" Swift nodded, sucking in a deep breath. Just what was wrong with her right now? Only one mention of her friends' in trouble and she was getting jumpy.

_Just stay calm Swift, you need to get used to this team and keep calm. Keep calm and assess the situation just like Dad and Alfred taught you._

She told herself as she and Aqualad quietly snuck towards the attacker's position.

They could see a clearing ahead, but she kept to the trees. She didn't like it, but she knew Aqualad was right. If they both got in the middle of the sparring space, there was a much higher chance of getting shot in the crossfire.

She snuck to the ground taking out the goons from behind. As she fought she saw to her great relief, Kid Flash Zipping around in his dark grey stealth gear. Eventually, she saw a figure jump down from above.

"What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert? Why didn't you follow my lead? Vanish into the jungle!"

"Robin" Swift sighed heavily at her partner, only to quickly glower at him.

The idiot! How could he vanish on them without a word? Even if he hadn't told the others, he could've at least made sure  _she_  knew, couldn't he?

Her thoughts seemed to be shared by Kid Flash. The speedster quickly pummeled a goon and rounded on their friend.

"That's what you were doing? Way to fill us in. We aren't all mind readers you know?!" he quickly turned as Miss Martian used her telekinesis to smash two goons into a tree.

"Err…I'm not anyway" he mumbled

"You told me I could only read the bad guys minds" Miss Martian frowned. "Did you know he was planning this Swift?"

"Nope." Swift's scowl darkened as she stepped out of the bushes, watching Aqualad beat up the last straggler. Robin smirked.

"Oh, come on Swift. Bat-rule number seven. Always stick to the shadows when scouting the perimeter." he faltered under her narrowed eyes.

"Yes. And I also know bat-rule number six, always keep your partners, or in this case  **teammates** , in the loop before making any move" She snapped, turning on her heel curtly to drag a knocked-out goon over to a tree. The others exchanged glances and followed suit.

They didn't talk until all the goons were rounded up and tied to the bases of several large trees.

"I recognise these uniforms" Robin muttered addressing Swift more than anyone else.

"They belong to the cult of the Kobra" she clipped keeping both eyes on their captives. Robin's shoulders hunched sheepishly. She truly was pissed at him.

"I am certain Batman would've mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation," Aqualad spoke up. He was trying to keep the tension at bay but alas it wasn't working.

"Agreed" Robin nodded "And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultist and these goons I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out! That's why normal supply lines have been cut off."

"We get it!" Kid Flash groaned "Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for-"

"These cultists aren't on venom" Swift snapped and Kid flinched "Kobra's hoarding this stuff" Robin looked up and saw her running an analysis on the blood chemistry of the Kobra goons.

"We don't leave," he said firmly "Not until I know why."

"Until  _you_  know why" Kid sneered

"This team needs a leader."

"And it's  _you_?" Kid got offensively close to Robin, who stood his ground "Dude, you're a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word"

"And you're a mature fifteen? You blew our cover first chance you got. Besides Swift left too if you don't remember"

"Yeah, but at least  _she_  told one of us where  _she_  was going." Kid Flash pointed his finger at her

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Swift raised her hands, rolling her eyes in annoyance, but Robin continued to glare at Kid Flash.

She backed away as the two boys argued and joined Aqualad who was watching from a distance.

"Do you want to be the leader?" he asked her.

She shook her head "No."

Aqualad looked down on her eyebrows raised "Are you sure?"

"Unlike the two idiots over there Kaldur, I know my limitations. I may be able to keep Robin and KF in line from time to time, but I know for a fact that I'm not suited to lead all of  _this_ particular team."

She left it at that, walking over to the captives.

She could've sworn she'd heard one of them speaking in Spanish.

She glanced at Superboy who caught her eye. He gave a pointed look to one of the trees where a large muscled man was tied up. He was well over six feet and was wearing a dark muscle shirt tucked into dark combat pants and had a white and black Lucha Libre mask covering his face.

She walked over to him slowly.

"Bueno, si no es poco chica de Batman. Mi cómo has crecido [Well if it isn't the Batman's little chica? My how you've grown]" The villain smirked as he recognised her.

"Hola, Bane" she greeted coldly in fluent Spanish. "Veo que has sido para nada bueno de nuevo [I see you've been up to no good again]"

"Problema viene con el trabajo. Ya sabes cómo es. [Trouble comes with the job. You know how it is.]" His smirk widened

"De hecho lo hago [Indeed I do]" she narrowed her eyes

"Sabes que siempre me he preguntado por qué una niña como tú querría involucrarse en una profesión tan peligrosa [You know I've always wondered why a little girl like you would want to get involved in such a dangerous profession]"

"Podría decir lo mismo de ti. [I could say the same about you.]"

Bane gave a dark chuckle at her narrowed domino mask. He eyed Kid Flash and Robin as the two argued as they walked past him.

"Such clever, Ninos." he laughed. "But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest get you into the factory, via my secret entrance" Swift's eyes turned into slits as everyone stopped in their tracks to pay attention.

Miss Martian knelt by Swift's side and focused her mental powers on Bane.

"There is a secret entrance" she glared at him ", but he's also hiding something" her eyes glowed white as she tried once again to enter his mind.

"Ah, ah, ah Chica. Bane is not that easy."

"Argh! He's mentally reciting football scores in Espanol. This could take a while."

"If you let me in I could translate" Swift smirked cracking her knuckles threateningly.

"It's not that complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Swift turned back to the boys who exchanged glances. Eventually, they all nodded.

She cut his bonds. As he was about to stand up, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and snarled.

"Si hace doble atreves a cruzar o plomo en la dirección equivocada voy a arrancar las pelotas de la manera más dolorosa imaginable. ¿Ha quedado claro? [If you dare double cross us or lead in the wrong direction I will rip out your balls in the most painful way imaginable. Do I make myself clear?]"

"Transparently clear Chica" Bane smiled, but only with his mouth. His eyes on Swift were dark and calculating. Swift's eyes narrowed dangerously as she pulled Bane to his feet. He brushed her off, but she kept her eyes on his back. She turned to follow him.

The others shuddered behind her back as a chill settled over them that had nothing to do with the night air.

"What did she say?" Kid Flash gulped as they stepped through the undergrowth.

"Trust me" Robin put a hand up to silence Kid "You don't wanna know."

"Is she always angry like this on patrol?" Miss Martian asked nervously.

"Only when she gets pissed off." Robin huffed.

"And whose fault do you think is that?" Kid glared. Robin chose not to answer.

Ten minutes later they came to the edge of another cliff. Robin pulled out his binoculars and watched.

"Look at all that product" he whispered, "A buy  _is_  going down, but if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects…"

"We need to identify that buyer" Aqualad stated firmly.

"Just what I was thinking" Kid nodded.

"Yeah! You're the thinker" Robin sneered.

"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader, would be focused on getting  **answers**."

Swift kept her eyes glued to Bane all the way through the conversation as the latter moved away. She followed him, holding a hand to her utility belt as Bane picked up a giant rock. He threw it aside revealing a hidden tunnel.

"Answers are this way" he smirked.

"After you" he gestured to Swift who didn't move. Instead, she narrowed her eyes.

"Fine then" he scowled. He walked inside, and Swift and the others followed.

"So now El Luchador is our leader!" Kid exclaimed in a huff. Robin smacked him hard.

"Ow!"

Swift glared back at the two of them, and they both shut up.

They walked down the long series of tunnels, Swift sticking closer to Bane than blue tack to a wall. To make sure he wasn't duping them she pulled out her holo-map so whenever he turned around, he would be able to see all their progress.

Eventually, they reached a locked door. Bane pushed a finger onto a pad in the lock which blinked red a couple of times before turning green. It swung open a little, and Robin rushed to peek through.

"All clear" he whispered before rushing forwards.

Swift, let him go, watching as Kid Flash sped off after him to the lights on the second floor. She looked at Aqualad who turned towards her and nodded.

"We'll watch Bane, you go."

"Thanks." she stepped back into the shadows and vanished from sight.

She reappeared only when she stepped into the room above. Robin was sitting at a computer. There was something about the way he was seated that relaxed her slightly.

"Got anything yet?" she asked and was surprised to hear her voice was calm.

"So now you're talking to me?' he snapped not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Oh, is that a crime now? I hadn't noticed." she folded her arms, eyes narrowing.

"Maybe it is. Maybe, if you want to say something so badly why don't you go talk to  _Kaldur?_ " he spat his teammate's name as an intense resentment flared up inside.

"Why not? At least he's trying to be responsible and not act like a stuck-up twerp-"

"Hark who's talking." Robin snapped finally turning away from his screen to glower at her as she spluttered.

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?

"Don't think I haven't noticed you, seconding Kaldur whenever he gives orders. Sucking up to him when you think our backs are turned-"

"Excuse me? I do not  **suck up**  to Kaldur" Swift's nostrils flared angrily, "If you have a problem with him being the team leader, then you should tell him, but don't get mad with me just because I agree with what he's saying."

"I don't have a problem with him leading the team, or you supporting him." Robin groaned as he turned back to his computer to avoid her suspicious gaze. "I just don't like the way he looks at you that's all."

"Oh, and what  _way_ is this?" Swift put her hands on her hips.

"I don't know!" Robin growled in aggravation "He just, he  _looks_ at you differently from the others-"

"Different how?" Swift frowned, confusion drowning out her anger for a moment.

Robin opened his mouth to speak, only to shut his mouth as Kid Flash skidded into the room.

"So, whatcha guys up to? Apart from y'know the arguing." he grunted as he chewed on one of the various granola bars he had stashed in his belt.

"You heard that, huh?" Swift facepalmed, feeling her cheeks flare up behind her mask.

"Uh-huh, and so did Superboy, Miss M and  _Aqualad_. And I'm pretty sure Bane heard some of it too" Kid Flash shrugged and leaned over Robin's shoulder at the computer. A complex red diagram of molecules spun around on the monitor, the critical proteins in them highlighted.

"So, what did you find?"

"Chemical formulas. I'm guessing it involves venom but…" Robin trailed off.

"This one's venom and that one's… whoa" Kid Flash pulled his hand back sharply as a blue molecular structure appeared and merged with the red.

"The blockbuster formula from CADMUS" Swift breathed eyes wide.

"Mixed correctly Kobra's new juices are going to be three times stronger than venom…and permanent" He looked to Swift and Robin "But how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?"

"Our mystery buyer-" Swift began

"Must also be Kobra's supplier-" Robin continued

"Using the cult to create a blockbuster super formula!" She finished.

Kid raised his eyebrows. Swift and Robin looked away from each other awkwardly. Robin tapped his com.

"Robin to Aqualad! We got…static…"

"And gunfire" Swift had hacked into the security cameras and was watching the screen. She could see Aqualad, Miss Martian and Superboy battling it out against Kobra's minions.

"Bane's gone!" Kid exclaimed pointing at the screen.

"That bastard!" she snarled.

They all ran out of the room, Kid Flash separating from the two of them as they reached the middle of a bridge. Robin nodded at Swift, and they both disappeared into the rafters.

_Everyone online_

The sudden appearance of Miss Martian's voice in her head almost made Swift lose her footing as she ran along a high, narrow catwalk.

_Yeah._

Superboy grumbled in her head.

_You know it beautiful_

Swift could almost see Kid's smirk in her head.

_Good, we need to regroup!_

Aqualad commanded.

_A bit busy right now_

Robin complained as he and Swift landed in front of a man and a woman next to the red helicopter. The man had white chalk skin and snake-like eyes. He was wearing a thick red robe with a hood. The woman next to him was also pale. She was slender and had a kind of goth punk look going for her with her half head of hair and black Kobra tattoo.

"Batman must be desperate if he sends his whelps to task me."

"What's the matter, Koby?" Robin called out.

"You seem rather disconcerted" Swift smirked.

"This is beneath me. Shimmer take them" the woman lunged at the Boy and Girl Wonder who both jumped over her quickly. They readied themselves for an attack.

_Robin, Swift NOW!_

Aqualad yelled in their heads. Shimmer decided to rush them again. Swift grabbed Robin's hand as she threw down a flash bomb before the woman could reach them. By the time the smoke had cleared, they'd both darted inside the factory.

They landed on a metal support above. Inside was pandemonium. The rattling of machine guns everywhere as the Kobra goons shot at the team, the sounds of snarls and thumps from a strange mammoth sized creature that was fighting Superboy and the constant spraying of water as Aqualad wielded his water bearers.

_We need to retreat. Kid clear a path!_

Aqualad ordered. Swift scanned the floor.

_The door we came through! It's still open!_

She mentally called.

"Swift hit the deck!" Robin cried out. Swift ducked as the sprays of bullets that suddenly came their way. There was a loud cacophony of clangs as the bullets hit metal. Quickly she grabbed her partner tight with one hand, while her other aimed her grapple gun.

"Argh! After them!" Shimmer growled as the boy and girl wonder launched themselves from the catwalk and down to land neatly on the ground.

They sprinted in zig-zag formation through the door, dodging bullets, just as the massive behemoth monster wrestled past with Superboy. He flung it to the side, knocking out several gunners in the process, before running through and bolting the door.

But they'd barely been running for a minute when the monster burst through into the tunnel followed by more Kobra goons. They started shooting again.

Swift looked back at the gunmen before glancing up at the ceiling. Aqualad followed her gaze.

"Superboy the support beams!" he called. Swift breathed heavily as she put all her energy into sprinting for her life. She could hear the crunches of the roof as the pressure of the earth above pushed down upon them before it eventually caved in.

They all skidded to a halt as the last pebble stopped rolling.

"Phew" Robin sighed in relief as he slumped against the wall, his thighs burning. Swift, however, was still alert, ears pricking for signs of danger. Yet even as she raised her hand to switch on her mask's night vision, she found herself able to see her surroundings quite clearly even in the dark.

They were all standing in a circle. Swift saw that she was right next to Miss Martian with Superboy and Kid Flash opposite her. Aqualad stood opposite her as he took out a glowstick from his pack, facing Robin who was leaning against the rock wall beside her.

 _Note to self, check eyes when I get home._  She thought just as Robin sighed in frustration.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"

"You do have the most the most experience," Aqualad said calmly. "But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman and Swift your roles are, defined. You three do not need to talk. But this team is new, and the leader my must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan."

"Oh! So, I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?!" Robin whirled around to glare at them all.

Swift went over to him and put a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her

"Kaldur's right Robin. Even  **I**  didn't know what you were up to until you reappeared, and we're partners. What if you got shot and we didn't know where you were? What would we do then, hmm?"

Robin's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about it like that.

He felt his earlier irritation with her lessen considerably, and he looked down at the floor.

"Who am I kidding?" he nodded gratefully at Swift before smiling up at Kaldur. "You should lead us Kaldur. You're the only one who can"

"Oh please! I can run in circles-"

"Oh, come on Wally!" Robin cut across the Speedster "You know he's the one. We all do."

"Hello, Megan! It's so obvious" Miss Martian smiled, hands on her hips.

"Could've told ya," Superboy shrugged and smirked.

Kid Flash looked around the circle his eyes resting on Robin and Swift. He saw her eyes narrow, and he shuddered.

"Okay! Okay!" he raised his hands up in token of peace. "Man, it's like having a mini version of Batman around" he grumbled under his breath.

"I'll take that as a compliment" Swift snorted.

Aqualad walked over to Robin and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Then I accept the burden. Until  **you**  are ready to lift it from my shoulders."

"What about Swift?" Superboy asked.

"What about me?" Swift leaned around to look at him.

"Well…second to Robin you do have the most experience," Miss Martian said.

"Swift has already expressed her desires not to be team leader" Aqualad turned to address the team "However, since she has shown considerable abilities on the field, I would like to offer her the position as my second in command, if that is alright with you?" he looked down at Robin as he said this.

In the short space of time, he'd come to know him, Aqualad knew that the Boy Wonder was very protective of his partner and she of him. He didn't want to put a wedge between the two of them merely because of a promotion.

He watched as Robin glanced suspiciously at Swift, who just raised her eyebrows. Robin sighed.

"Oh alright, I'll be okay with it as long as you are." The boy wonder grumbled.

"Then I accept" Swift turned to Aqualad smirking.

Aqualad smiled. "Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving the island."

"Funny I had the same thought!" Robin laughed as they all huddled together.

"What about the factory?" Swift asked.

"What about it?" Kid asked.

"Even if we stop that shipment the factory can still make a new batch of Blockbuster Venom to sell later on."

"True…" Kid nodded. They all began to run along the tunnel.

"But I'm worried. If Sportsmaster is the supplier/buyer that still doesn't make any sense" Swift pulled up her own data to see the molecular structure of Blockbuster Venom.

"You're right" Robin took out his holo-computer on his wrist. "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula or get Kobra to do his dirty work."

"And neither have the chops to blend Blockbuster with Venom either" Kid Flash stated. "That took some major nerdage."

"I believe the expression is  _the tip of the iceberg_ " Aqualad stopped in his tracks, and the other's followed suit. Bane had appeared at the end of the tunnel. He dropped a vial on the ground.

"Halt Ninos" he grinned wickedly "I'm feeling  **explosive.** "

Swift heard beeping and looked up. Green lights were flickering in the support beams above their heads.

"Bastard" She spat vehemently.

"Ah, ah! Language Chica" Bane waggled a finger.

"You betrayed us? Why?" Aqualad sounded shocked, but then she heard his voice in her head.

_Kid, you need a running start_

"So, I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying" Bane was continuing to reveal his plans utterly unaware of their mental conversation

_God M'gann, I love your telepathy_

Swift was glad her mouth was covered because she was grinning.

Miss Martian blushed a little, trying her best to keep her face neutral as Bane finished his speech.

"-Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect" Bane pressed this thumb down. However instead of pressing a button, it only hit the air.

"huh?" Bane spun round to face Kid Flash who was leaning against a tree behind him.

"With what? This trigger thingy?" he pulled out the trigger from behind his back and smirked.

Bane's face contorted. He rushed at Kid Flash but before he could hit he was lifted into the air. Miss Martian turned him around to face them as Superboy stepped forwards.

"Finally" he grinned readying himself. Bane's eyes widened as he looked at Swift.

"Drop him" she smiled wickedly, folding her arms.

Miss Martian let go.

* * *

The four teenage boys peered over a bush looking at the open expanse of the helicopter landing area, in front of the factory.

"There's Sportsmaster" Robin hissed focusing his binoculars as a blond-haired man walked out in a hockey mask.

"You ready?" Kid looked back to Miss Martian and Swift who were both standing hidden in the shadows of the trees. Each was holding a set of the bombs Bane had planted in the tunnel. They both nodded before Miss Martian cloaked herself and Swift slunk off silently into the shadows.

"Kid, go" Aqualad commanded. Kid pulled down his goggles and rushed forwards.

He knocked some goons off their feet, and machine guns immediately rattled. Superboy then jumped into the middle.

The muscled creature he'd been fighting before turned to growl at him.

"Go again?"

The creature snarled and charged forwards before getting hit by a jet of water.

"Sorry, not part of the plan" Superboy smiled at Aqualad who pushed the creature back with the water.

Superboy lurched forwards. Sportsmaster had taken out a gun and was shooting at his back. Thanks to his Kryptonian DNA Superboy wasn't even scratched.

Swift ignored her impulse to help and dragged Miss Martian into the back of the helicopter. She put down the bombs keeping the detonator. Just as they were about to exit, Sportmaster's back blocked them.

Miss Martian bumped into him, and he took her down holding her in a headlock. From her hiding place, Swift leapt up and aimed a kick. Their opponent caught her foot with one hand and using her momentum threw her aside. She crashed into someone, and they rolled to the side.

It was Kobra's female minion, Shimmer. The woman recovered quickly and lunged at Swift who rolled aside as something thin and dark flew their way. It expanded into a thin dark cord and wrapped around Shimmer who fell to the floor.

Swift saw a black-gloved hand enter her field of vision. She looked up at Robin who smiled, pulling her up. They turned to see Kobra standing there glaring at the two of them.

"I know you hate getting your hands dirty" Robin smirked. Swift snorted.

"Only too true" Kobra's glare hardened as he flung his red robe aside, to reveal a bare chest, dark leggings and red arm-gauntlets. "Even a god must stoop to conquer."

Robin quickly sped at Kobra who deflected his kick and ducked as Swift punched at him. He flung each of them aside calmly. Then he noticed the detonator in Swift's hand.

Swift saw where he was looking and looked up at the sky. The helicopter had taken off. She jumped away as Robin aimed a punch at Kobra. She tossed the control.

"Miss Martian!" Miss Martian turned at the sound of her call and caught the detonator. She pressed it.

The back of the helicopter exploded. Swift didn't get to see it land on the factory and explode because Kobra tossed Robin aside and lunged for her, grabbing her around the throat.

He squeezed hard with one hand, and Swift spluttered as she was raised into the air. Robin rushed towards them, eyes alight with fury. Kobra saw him and with his free hand tossed him down to the floor. He pressed his foot into Robin's chest.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes."

"Good" Robin grunted. He could see Swift's face begin to turn blue. "Because this mosquito's mighty concerted about your pain!"

He flicked his legs in a whirling action, freeing himself. He flipped backwards as the other members of the team ran up to his aid.

Kobra narrowed his eyes. He knew he was outnumbered. He loosened his grip on Swift's neck and pulled her into a painful headlock as he stepped backwards.

"Another time then" he shoved Swift towards the ground as he blended into the shadows.

Robin rushed forwards to check the bushes. Kobra was gone.

He turned back to the group. Miss Martian was fussing over Swift who was gulping down vast amounts of air.

"We picked the right guy to lead" Robin looked up at Aqualad. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman."

Swift resisted the urge to laugh with the others as Aqualad's face turned pale.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, July 23, 10:06 EDT 2010** _

They were all dressed in civilian clothes and standing in line. Batman strode before them his aura darker than ever.

"A simple recon mission  **observe**  and  **report**." He snapped in Kaldur's face. The teenager didn't respond, but his gaze did become a little too concentrated to be considered normal. Batman continued to pace.

"You'll  **each**  receive a written evaluation detailing your  **many**  mistakes. Until then…"

Christine winced expecting the explosion. She was standing between Kaldur and Dick, with Miss Martian and Superboy at the other end.

"Good job."

She snapped her head up. Batman's posture had relaxed.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads…" he paused looking at Dick in particular. "And who follows in the chain of command…" he looked at Christine "Determines character.

Everyone smiled as Christine piped up.

"So, since we did ok…does this mean I'm not grounded anymore" she grinned hopefully. Following her trip to CADMUS Bruce had confiscated her motorbike the Swift-Cycle for the rest of the month. It had only been two weeks, but Christine's fingers were already itching for the feel of its handles and the wind in her hair.

Batman stiffened as she looked up at him with large puppy dog eyes from behind a new pair of glasses.

"…No" he smirked.

Dick cackled as Christine groaned in defeat.

_Great…still grounded._

* * *

_**The Batcave, July 24, 02:34 EST, 2010** _

Christine Hallows stared tiredly at the Batcave's evidence locker.

She had just finished patrol and was helping Dick pack up the cave for the night while Batman logged their most recent case file. It was late, their rooftop stakeout lasting over three hours as they watched over the entrances and exits to the notorious Iceberg Lounge, before following some thugs into an alleyway and examining what they had left behind. Then once they had finished, Batman had brought them back to the cave, so he could personally observe and train Christine.

After telling him about her newfound night vision, Batman had kept her at a distance from the scenes on patrol and had been drilling her every night, documenting all her progress. Her powers it seemed, were developing exponentially at an alarming rate.

Her nails both on her hands and feet, now were nearly impossible to trim down short, continually growing back stronger and sharper than ever within the hour of cutting them. Then there were her heightened senses. In addition to the night vision, she appeared to be developing some form of echolocation, as her hearing was growing beyond anything humanly possible. Though it still wasn't near developed enough for her to use effectively in the field.

_It's bad enough I'm the protégé of a guy who dresses like a bat, but now I seem to be turning into one. What will be next? Will I hang upside down from the ceiling to sleep during the day?_

Christine looked down at the dirty spotted handkerchief she had deposited neatly in a sterile plastic zip bag. With a heavy sigh, she trudged into the room, rotating the various carriages and shelves until she found one that was mostly empty, save for a strange white mask.

She put the handkerchief and after assigning it a digital label and closed its small section off, frowning at the mask.

It looked like the face of a pure white barn owl, with round eyeholes and a tapered beak just where the mouth should be.

For some reason, it looked very familiar.

She quickly checked the date it had been catalogued under.

_July the eighteenth? But that was barely a week ago. Dad never mentioned finding this?_

She reached out to turn the mask over.

It seemed to have been carved out of pure ivory, and there appeared to be no markings nor any engravings of any maker or manufacturer.

_I'm sure I've seen this before, but where-_

Her thoughts were interrupted as Dick peered around the entrance to the Evidence Locker.

"Hey missy, are you done? We're about to go upstairs-Chris?" Dick blinked as he caught sight of his partner's face which had gone deathly pale.

"Uh, Chris? Are you okay?" he reached forwards to prod her, only to jump back as she snapped:

"I'm fine; you just surprised me."

"What's that?" Dick eyed the white mask warily.

"It's nothing." Christine coughed, putting the mask back on the shelf. "Just evidence from one of Dad's cases."

"It's weird" Dick leaned away from said evidence as if it would come to life and attack him.

"Dick, half the stuff in here is weird." She pointed at the other shelves of evidence that surrounded them. "Now come on, let's get to bed."

They were quick to go upstairs, the two of them tiredly wishing one another goodnight before splitting for their bedrooms.

But Christine did not go at once to bed.

Instead, she quickly rummaged around in her desk drawer, pulling out a massive photo album.

_Come on; it's got to be in here somewhere-AHA! There!_

She smirked as she finally found what she was looking for, her yellow-orange eyes eerily bright as they scanned the photo in the semi-darkness of her room.

It was of her when she was about seven years old, on the day of her First Holy Communion, if she remembered rightly. She was wearing a fancy white dress and beaming excitedly, alongside a tall, lean, handsome man with short brown hair. His eyes were a warm brown, just like hers had been before Cadmus, and his smile was broad as he held his little girl up in his arms.

They appeared to be standing in a study,  _his study,_ she reminded herself as she traced her fingers over the wall in the background of the photograph.

There were various masks, some primitive tribal ones, a couple of samurai helmets and ancient Chinese masks too and-

"There you are" She whispered excitedly as she leaned down to squint at the mask half hidden behind father's head. A plain white mask that looked like an owl's face.

 _"Papa?"_  she could hear her seven-year-old-self ask curiously in the back of her head. " _Why do you have so many masks?"_

 _"Masks? You mean the ones behind my desk?"_ her father had smiled patiently down at her as she nodded.  _"Oh, they're just antiques I've collected from travelling all over the world. They're from ancient places like Japan, Zimbabwe-"_

 _"But that one doesn't look that old"_  she had exclaimed, pointing up to the white mask that sat high above his chair.

 _"Which one?"_ her father had asked,

_"The white one up there. Where did it come from? What is it? It looks like an owl-"_

_"Christine."_ Her father clipped across her sternly  _"it's getting late. You should get to bed",_ And that was all was said on the matter.

The now teenage Christine, leaned away from the photograph, scratching her chin. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten about that mask. Then again, she had rarely been allowed in her father's study as a little girl. There were a lot of things from her father's house that she'd forgotten about after coming to live at Wayne Manor four years ago.

Now that she thought about it, the mask had vanished from the wall the very next day after that conversation.

_So how did it reappear in the evidence locker? Where did Dad get it from?_

Little did she know that her mentor/godfather was thinking the same thing as he sat, in the depths Batcave, far down below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is Episode 4 done.
> 
> I think you guys can start to see the new pairing peering over the proverbial wall. Can you guys guess what it is? Dick and Christine are both still very close to one another, but it's close sibling love instead.
> 
> Christine's also starting to figure out her new powers. They are nowhere near perfect, but she's only just starting to get used to the changes. So far there is Night Vision, Echolocation and sharp claw-like nails. And then there's the strange mask from Episode 3? What will it hold for Swift's future and why is it in her photo album. As strange as it sounds, there is a method to my madness and all will be explained as we progress further into this fic ;)
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed, and if you have any interesting suggestions or thoughts put them in a review.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	5. Schooled

_**Happy Harbor, August 3, 11:23 EDT, 2010** _

Christine Evelyn Hallows sat on an outside table of a small burger joint. Her white hair was tied up and hidden under a blue baseball cap, and her glasses were set high up on the bridge of her nose as she read a book. She was wearing a white summer dress with a light lavender camisole on top, and small black ballet flats.

_Argh! Why are these damn things so irritating! Ah, screw it._

Christine took off her glasses and pulled out a compact mirror and a small case. Trying not to look too conspicuous she opened the case and set it down on the table. Holding her compact in one hand, she carefully prodded a slender fingertip to her eyeball. She felt around for a tiny bit until finally, a small disk of brown coloured plastic stuck to her skin. She placed it in the small case before carefully prodding her other eye for another brown plastic disc.

A few seconds later both contact lenses were safely being tucked away in their case, and a blurred pair of bright yellow coloured irises were staring back at Christine from her compact.

She checked her watch, as she quickly put on a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes before anyone noticed them.

It had been ten minutes since her adoptive brother; Richard "Dick" Grayson and one of her best friends, Wally West, had gone up to the counter to order their meals. Dick's was a large quarter pound chicken double stack, Christine's was the medium chicken and avocado single, and Wally had ordered two triple stack large beef burgers with extra-large fries.

_Is there a big line or something?_

She raised her head about to turn to see inside the joint when a flash of red caught her eye.

She looked down the length of the pavement and saw a shiny red Rolls Royce park itself a few meters away. The driver, a man, dressed in a pinstripe grey suit hopped out and stood to open the back door.

A woman stepped out. She was tall and slim, with pale skin that contrasted starkly with her jet black tight office dress and dark brown fur coat. Her blond hair was in a short bob cut which framed her high cheekbones and smooth skin.

The woman thanked her driver tersely before making her way up the pavement. She caught sight of Christine and flexed her red painted claw-like nails around her handbag as her blood red lips curled in a small sneer. Sunglasses met hazel orbs as they caught each other's eyes for the briefest of moments before the blonde-haired woman turned her head and briskly walked to the tall building next door

Christine kept her eye on the woman as she stalked into a large building with bold lettering over the archway saying Rouge Records.

"What a lovely charming person."

"Yeah, a real snake charmer."

She turned to see Wally and Dick both standing there each with heavily laden trays. They settled themselves down on either side of her with grim smirks

"She's more of a snake than a charmer" Christine grunted "is that mine?" she pointed to the coke bottle, and Dick nodded, and she took a sip.

"IstilcomfbelwevethagthatScharetchtawasishurmoder" Wally said his mouth stuffed with fries

"Translation please?" Dick raised his eyebrows, and Christine snorted.

"He said ' I still can't believe that Scarlett Taylors is your  **mother** '. Nor can I for that matter. But then again she has always been a nasty bit-I mean a witch" she added quickly.

"Perfect description and perfect translation" Wally wheezed. He'd just gulped down a mass of what had once been his first burger down his throat in one go.

"Hey, if I'm going to get into that ballet school in Europe, I'll need to be fluent in a few languages, even Wally-English."

"Hey, I speak English just fine" Wally waggled a warning finger, and Dick smirked.

"Not when your face is stuffed like a pigs."

"Dick don't be so mean" Christine laughed as she flicked his forehead.

"Dude not cool" Dick grumbled as Wally chuckled at his expense.

"Okay, okay. Chill." Wally sipped his drink noisily before asking "So Number One, what's the time?"

"11:40" Christine looked at her watch again "if we finish in fifteen minutes we can make it early for training by 1:00. And please don't call me that in public, you know I hate Star Trek." she scowled, and Wally rolled his eyes.

"I don't see how someone who loves Battlestar Galactica reading H.G. Wells, could possibly hate Star Trek?"

"Uh, because it's tacky and cheesy. Especially the original series." Christine smirked and was not disappointed by both Wally's and Dick's nostrils flaring indignantly.

"How dare you-TOS is a classic!"

"And ten times better than Battlestar!"

"Okay! Okay! I get it; I won't smack talk your precious  _Star Trek_ if you don't insult my Battlestar alright?" Christine steamrolled over the two boys, who settled down at once, though in a huff.

"So…training at one?" Dick muttered after a short-embarrassed pause.

"I thought Black Canary was coming at quarter past?" Wally grunted as he began tucking into burger #2 with gusto.

"Yeah but Dinah tends to come early, so it's best if we get there before she does."

"Is it true that she's even hotter in person?" Wally asked dreamily.

"She was there when we came to the cave for the first time? Surely you checked her out?" Christine scrunched up the now empty wrapping of her burger and settled into her fries.

"Not really" Wally snorted.

"Because he was too busy checking M'Gann out" Dick sniggered earning himself another glare from the speedster.

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I can't blame him. M'gann is quite cute. If she was into girls, I might've made a pass at her." Christine sipped her soda.

"You would?" both Dick and Wally frowned at her. "But I thought you said you weren't into redheads?"

"I said I wasn't into red-headed  _guys._  I don't mind redhead girls. I mean, don't get me wrong I like both boys and girls, but for some reason redhead guys, eh…they don't do it for me," Christine bit into her burger to hide the embarrassed flush that had blossomed over her face.

"Oh yeah, how come?" Wally leaned in interestedly, and Christine shrugged.

"I dunno. It's just always been that way."

"Huh. Weird" Wally mumbled.

"Not really, come on Walls, there must be some types of girls you aren't attracted to?" Christine smirked, and the speedster narrowed his eyes.

"Oh no, I'm not falling into this trap again. It was bad enough the first time you asked me this. Uh-uh! No way am I answering this question again."

Dick and Christine both laughed, the sound carrying even as the former's watch beeped the hour.

"We okay for time?" Christine giggled as Kid Flash sunk low in his chair, with a mutinous glower.

"More than enough time to get ice cream" Dick grinned, chuckling as Wally suddenly lit up like a Christmas Tree.

"Did you say ice cream?!"

Christine rolled her eyes. Sometimes the young speedster was like an overgrown puppy dog.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, August 3, 13:06 EDT, 2010** _

Swift watched interestedly from her spot next to Robin. They were watching a holographic air hockey match between Aqualad and Kid Flash, and it was getting intense.

Swift bit her lip. They'd been doing rounds in which the winners would verse each other. After winning fantastically against Robin, Swift had gone against Aqualad.

Him being Atlantean and not having much knowledge of the "surface world", Swift had thought it was going to be easy, much to her cost. She looked up at the holographic scoreboard down at the tally for her match.

10 - 0, Aqualad Win

Upon meeting him, Swift would never have thought that Aqualad would have such a competitive streak in him, but then again, she wasn't one to talk. Just place her in front of a Nintendo console, plug in Mario Kart, and it was on!

_Maybe we should show him the video game console. Might be nice to play against someone new for a change._

She thought to smile as she watched Kid Flash quickly land a goal, grinning as he took a bite out of his banana. Aqualad scowled, straightening up from where he had been leaning his body over the table.

Swift had to admit, from this angle he had quite a sweet behind-

_Recognised Superboy B05_

The robotic female voice announced, and she jumped out of her stupor.

Superboy exited a Zeta tube, positively seething.

"Hello Superboy," Miss Martian smiled as he walked through the holographic board "How was Metropolis?"

He didn't answer but walked on ahead.

"Ready for training everyone?" came a quiet but strong feminine voice.

They all turned as a tall blond walked in accompanied by a green-skinned bald man

"Black Canary. Uncle J'ohn!" M'gann squealed excitedly running up to hug her mentor. After pulling away, Martian Manhunter put a hand on her shoulder.

"M'gann I was in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting"

"A few bumps but I'm learning."

"That's all I can ask" the Martian man smiled softly.

Behind her mask, Swift looked worriedly at Superboy who was trying to sneak out of the room. His face had gone from seething to utterly dejected. In the short time, she'd known the clone she'd grown fond of him, like a little brother. Yes, little brother. He may have the appearance of a muscled sixteen-year-old champion, but in many ways, he was still a child.

"Stick around" Black Canary had also noticed Superboy leaving. "Class is in session."

Superboy stopped in his tracks and turned with his arms crossed as the blonde Justice Leaguer stood in the centre of the room. A white holographic circle spread out wide under her black boots. She gripped the collar of her blue jacket.

"I consider it an honour to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I've learnt from my own mentors. Urgh! And my own bruises" she winced as she shrugged off the jacket from her left shoulder. Swift saw her grip a bandage over her arm.

"What happened?" M'gann asked worriedly.

"The job" Canary threw her jacket aside and stood before them hands on her hips.

"Now combat is about  **controlling**  conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting never  **reacting**. I'll need a sparring partner."

"Right here!" Kid flash called out hurriedly chewing the remainder of his banana "after this…swish" he tossed the peel to the bin "I'll show you my moves" he waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

Black Canary smirked and without warning lunged. Thanks to his superfast reflexes Kid managed to block it with his arm in time before being swept off his feet with a low kick.

He crashed to the floor with a loud thump as a small circle appeared on the holographic floor beneath him.

_Kid Flash fail_

"Ughh…it hurts so good..."

"Good block," Canary helped him up easily with one arm "But did anyone see what he did wrong?"

"Oh! Oh! He hit on teacher and got served?" Robin was positively bouncing up and down.

"Dude!" Kid cried out as Robin and Swift fist bumped and grinned. Black Canary, however, didn't miss a beat.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of-"

"Oh please."

Black Canary turned to look at Superboy eyebrows raised.

"With  **my**  powers, the battle is always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time."

"Prove it" Canary smirked.

Superboy's gaze hardened as he and Canary both readied themselves into fighting stances.

He punched hard, but she blocked it before grabbing his arm. Using his forward's momentum, she flipped him across the circle. With a hard thud, he landed on his back on the ground.

Robin's gleeful cackle was interrupted by Aqualad's nudge and Swift's hand over his mouth.

Superboy was up on his feet again, snarling.

"You're angry; good" Canary nodded "But don't react. Channel that anger into-"

She dodged quickly as he charged again. She blocked him before flipping over his head. Superboy whipped around to face her but fell onto his back again as she crouched low and swept her leg under his feet.

Robin giggled as Black Canary reached down to help Superboy up, but he pushed her away.

"That's it" he growled, "I'm done!"

"Training is mandatory" she tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he pushed that off too, glaring fiercely.

Swift removed her hand from Robin's mouth about to step forward to intervene when an alert sounded for a holographic transmission.

They all rushed over as the Batman's face became visible. The others may not have been able to see it but Swift and Robin could. He was positively exhausted. The cowl hid his face, but his posture was sagging with fatigue.

"Batman to the Cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary." Another holographic screen appeared alongside Batman's face. It showed the league attacking a strange figure in their midst "The attacker was capable of studying and duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

"Whoa…" Kid Flash breathed beside her. "One guy with the powers of the entire league?"

"Please tell me the League managed to take him down" Swift gulped as the video replayed Superman being spun around the figure's head as easily as a rag doll.

Batman nodded gravely.

"In the end, it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android?" Swift and Robin shouted in unison.

"Who made it? T.O. Morrow" Robin asked

"Good guess Robin, but no. Red tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo" Martian Manhunter explained.

"Ivo?" Aqualad breathed in shock "But Ivo's dead."

"Or so we thought…or hoped" Black Canary admitted grimly as Batman nodded.

"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralised, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate STAR Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two-real trucks."

"Yes! Road trip!" Kid Flash hissed in excitement.

"So now we take out your trash?" Superboy growled at Batman.

"You had something better to do" beneath his cowl Batman's eyebrows were raised. Superboy scowled and folded his arms.

"Uh…if we're going to follow the truck…does this mean I can ride my-" Swift bit her lip.

"You'll all be provided with the appropriate clothes and bikes. And yes Swift, your Swift-Cycle will be there too."

"YES!" Swift hissed in delight. Batman's lips gave a small twitch as he quickly hid a smirk.

"They're all parked in the launch bay with the coordinates of the trucks starting point. It's up to you to decide which truck to follow. Batman out."

All the holo-screens went off as Aqualad turned to the team.

"Everyone meet in the launch bay, civilian clothes. Keep your superhero gear ready as well just in case." They all nodded and rushed off to get changed.

Swift darted into her room and found a change of clothes lying on her bed. There was a black leather biker jacket with purple lining and stripes along the arms, a plain white T-shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans. Swift ignored the shirt and just put on the jacket and jeans, on top of her dark bodysuit.

She then went to her desk drawer and pulled from its depths two rectangular objects. To the average eye, they would seem like a pair of black folding fans. Yet, like many of the small weapons both the Bat's protégé's carried, they were so much more than little trinkets.

These were custom made Japanese war fans with lightweight metal plates, each sharpened at the edges. Sharp enough to slice through tough metals. They were both decorated with her signature purple hexagonal S insignia in the middle.

_Hopefully, I won't need them._

She slid each one into her belt at the sides and hid them under the jacket quickly.

She exited her room and headed for the launch bay where six motorbikes were stationed in two rows of three waiting for their riders.

Swift went to the one in the middle of the back row. It was black, slick and shiny with purple grips on the handlebars and purple for the central touchscreen and leather seat. She rushed over to it and grabbed her black helmet with purple wings painted on the sides, which was hanging off one of the handles.

"Oh Yeah…" she smirked as she turned on the ignition "Just listen to that baby purr."

"You sound happy" a deep voice smirked.

Swift turned around and grinned at Aqualad who was standing in the doorway and watching her with amusement. He was wearing a high-collared black leather jacket and jeans with black boots over his hero gear and was sporting a dark blue helmet under his arm.

"What can I say, I love my baby" Swift patted her bike lovingly, and he shook his head.

"So I see. Forgive me." Aqualad added apologetically "we don't have vehicles like this in Atlantis, so I don't see the appeal in driving one of these."

"That's because you don't see it. You gotta  _feel_  the wind in your hair and the rush of speed as you hit the gas and-Oh" she shivered with excitement as she revved up the engine again. "God I've missed this."

"I think I understand now." Aqualad stepped towards his dark turquoise and black bike "I feel the same way when I race along the ocean currents back home."

"Must be nice. Being able to swim underwater for however long you like" Swift sighed as she leaned on the handlebars "up here on the surface, some people find it hard to just float on their backs"

"I admit it confuses me sometimes just how afraid some surface dwellers are of the water" Aqualad swung his leg over his bike as he started it up, jumping as it revved up surprisingly fast under his touch.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to that" Swift laughed, Aqualad quickly joining her as he recovered from his surprise.

"Oh great, she's found a bike buddy" Kid Flash grunted as he stepped into the garage in his civvies. "Don't worry, Rob and I will save you!"

"Save who from what?" Robin asked as he, Miss Martian and Superboy all trudged into the garage in their civilian gear.

They all quirked their brows at Kid Flash who sighed heavily.

"Swift's trying to convert Kaldur into becoming a crazy road hog like her"

"And what if I don't want to be saved?" Aqualad smirked as he revved his engine loudly. "What I want to be a crazy driver like Swift?"

"Don't mind KF, Kal. He's just jealous because he's still on his training wheels." Swift chortled at the speedster who puffed up his chest proudly.

"I'll have you know I can outrun your bike any day of the week."

"Well, duh you can, you're a speedster" Robin rolled his eyes as he leapt onto his R-Cycle.

"Come on guys; we gotta get these bikes on the Bioship!" Miss Martian coughed, smirking widely as she mentally awoke the Bioship from its sleeping state.

"Killjoys" Swift muttered, as she drove up the ramp, not noticing Robin pushing his bike in front of Aqualad's with narrowed eyes.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to" he hissed before quickly following his partner's path up the ramp.

Utterly perplexed, Aqualad turned to Kid Flash.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Kid Flash sighed.

"Let's just get on the Bioship"

* * *

_**Litchfield County, August 3, 20:08 EDT, 2010** _

The six teenage heroes sat stationed on their bikes, concealed by a clump of bushes. Just a few meters away two of the six trucks were loaded with two heavy boxes, watched closely by Batman, Green Arrow, Flash and Superman.

The latter turned to look in their direction. The Big Blue Boy Scout turned away hurriedly as soon as he caught sight of the most massive teen boy with a red and black jacket.

Swift's domino masked eyes narrowed as the boy's knuckles flexed on his bike's handlebars.

So that was what was pissing Superboy off so much huh?

The guards were hopping into the trucks. They all put on their helmets as Batman gave the drivers a signal.

As soon as the trucks left, the bikes followed with Swift and Aqualad at the head. Once they hit the road, they split off into two teams. Aqualad led Kid Flash, and Miss Martian while Swift led Superboy and Robin.

They drove in silence for around thirty minutes or so. Swift was ahead, her thoughts drifting back to the way Superman had turned away so quickly just minutes ago.

Swift had not always been on friendly terms with the Man of Steel, but she'd always thought that despite his annoyingly goody-two-shoes attitude he'd be the kind of person to man up and take responsibility. So she was quite amazed to hear from Batman that the hero was shirking his duties as a mentor/father figure. Then again she didn't know why she was so surprised. She knew better than most that some people appear to be amazing in public but, could make shit parents. Her birth mother was living proof of that.

She was so lost in thought that Robin's voice appeared distant in her head as he piped up.

"If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster? See, instead of things going wrong they go right."

Typically by now, Swift would've given him an annoyed sigh, but this time she stayed silent as did Superboy.

"Clearly neither of you are feeling the aster. What's wrong?"

"Canary," Superboy grunted, "I mean what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig; Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman and well…me and Swift."

"Swift and I" Swift snorted in annoyance as Superboy sped up to drive in front of her.

"Whatever" Robin huffed, but he was smiling under his helmet.

"Argh! Robin, why do you love to butcher the English language?"

"It's a gift" he smirked.

Groaning with aggravation, Swift sped up level with Superboy.

"Listen. You may not believe this, but I know how bad it feels. I know how angry it gets you every time the person you look up to doesn't give you even so much as a sideways glance; how infuriating it is to have powers and not know what you're supposed to do with them. What I mean to say is you're not alone, and you don't have to isolate yourself either. If Superman is a Super-douche to you again, you can talk to any of us, including Black Canary. She'll listen. We all will."

Superboy briefly turned to look at her, and through the glass front of the helmet, he saw her sad smile.

He had heard her tone in her voice, her heartbeat. She wasn't lying; she truly meant what she said. But he didn't know what to say back. He turned back to the road.

Swift saw his slightly more relaxed face through his helmet and sighed with relief but then…

Her ears pricked and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

"Swift?" Robin asked nervously.

"Something's wrong" Swift gulped as she shut her eyes listened closely. In her mind's eye she could see, or rather feel Robin and Superboy riding beside her and behind the truck. And behind them getting closer and closer, she could vaguely make out the shape of something odd moving in their direction fast. Something odd shaped and-

"Laughing?" Swift was interrupted only to yelp as a small and dark shape, swooped in from above and latched itself onto the truck. It was metallic and shaped somewhat like a, wait what was that?

"Is that a flying monkey?" she frowned, wincing as her com blipped to life and Aqualad's voice shouted directly into her ear.

" _Robin, Swift, Superboy! Our truck is under attack!"_

"Kinda figured" Robin replied.

"So is ours" Swift prepped her Swift-Cycle into autopilot, and it immediately sped up to catch up to the truck. She took out her utility belt and wrapped it around her waist.

"I hate monkeys" Superboy growled.

"Robot monkeys!" Robin cackled "Totally Ivo's tweak style."

"Well Toto, it looks like we aren't in Kansas anymore" Swift mumbled darkly into her com as she jumped off her bike she flipped onto the back of the truck.

She heard the laughter of Kid Flash in her ear mingle with the monkey's weird shrieks as the truck swerved. Swift held on tight as Robin switched his bike to battle mode.

She took off her helmet, swiping the monkeys with it before seeing Superboy jump off his bike. It skidded and swerved and crashed into both Swift's and Robin's bikes.

As Robin jumped off his bike, Swift felt one of the robot monkeys land on her head.

The truck swerved again. Swift cried out in pain as the monkey on her head pulled at her cowl with metal fingers. She tried to bash her head back into the truck door. But the monkey held on, cackling madly. She heard a voice beside her cry.

"Stay still!" Swift shut her eyes as she felt Robin's foot kick the monkey off her head.

"Thanks" She sighed in relief as she ripped her cowl off. The monkey's metal claws had destroyed the material, and now her white ponytail was flowing in the wind.

She heard a cry as some of the monkey's lifted Superboy up into the air and dropped him behind the truck

They both flipped to the top of the truck. Robin pulled out his eskrima sticks, and Swift pulled out her war fans and flipped them open.

The two birds moved seamlessly together, looking more like partners dancing than fighting. Robin's moves were agile but strong, and Swifts were graceful and sharp as they hit and sliced through the robot monkeys.

_If only they could just be blown away by something_

Swift thought desperately as another monkey aimed for her hair again.

Then it happened. She'd been aiming a swipe with her fan at six of the monkeys and had huffed for breath. However, instead of merely exhaling a small puff of air, a torrent of wind burst from her mouth, blasting the monkeys back onto the road.

Swift didn't understand, nor did she have time to as Superboy landed again beside them. The monkeys switched to their new target as some others laser-eyed the roof of the truck and sped in.

Another pair of monkey's dive bombed her off the roof. Quickly she aimed her grapple gun to the side of the truck and latched on as she heard a loud pop.

She turned and saw that the pair of monkeys had sneakily gone and used their laser eyes on the truck tyres. She kicked them away, and they both crashed into the road, but the damage was done. She clambered sideways to the front where the poor driver was panicking as more monkeys bombarded his windshield. Swift jumped onto the hood in front and called out loudly.

"Robin, the driver!" Swift crouched low to hold on to as the truck twisted dangerously. She heard a thump as Robin landed above the driver's roof

"Get out!" he yelled at the terrified man driving the vehicle as Swift opened the door from the outside. Taking the man by the shoulders, they both leapt out of the moving truck, and they flew right into a dry pasture.

Swift heard a bang, then shrieks of the monkeys' laughter as they sped off into the sky carrying a large container.

Sighing, she helped Robin with the injured driver over to the road. He slumped to the side as in the distance Superboy flipped the truck off himself before super jumping away.

"Superboy" Swift and Robin both cried out, but Superboy was already about a couple of miles away.

Swift's com went off in her ear.

" _Aqualad to Swift and Robin. We lost our cargo, did you-"_

"It's gone" Robin groaned at the mess around them.

"And so is Superboy…and my bike" Swift mumbled dejectedly. She'd only just gotten her bike back today, and already it was destroyed.

_Just my luck._

" _Aqualad to Superboy,"_  Aqualad called over the com. " _Radio your position. We'll help you."_

" _Don't need help! Don't want any!"_  Superboy growled.

"Superboy!" Swift and Aqualad said in unison.

"I'm pretty sure he ditched his com" Robin pointed out.

 _"Super"_  Kid Flash's sarcastic cry filled her ears " _Now we can't even track him."_

"You don't say" Swift scowled.

" _He's out of my telepathic range."_ Miss Martian said worriedly. " _This Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"_

Swift tuned out of the conversation as she spotted Robin walking over to one of the monkeys closest to them bending over it.

" _Where to look!"_ Swift smirked as she caught the tail end of Kids annoyed rant.

"Maybe we do" She grinned as Robin plugged in his holo-computer to the monkey.

"We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks were attacked" Robin explained as he decoded the software.

"Are you saying the monkeys already knew exactly which of the trucks had the parts?" Swift peered around at all the monkeys around them before attaching her computer to the one in Robin was holding.

"Yep," Robin popped the "p" as the screen flashed again. He grinned triumphantly "Hah! The parts have GPS!"

"The monkeys can track the signal!" Swift cried out happily.

"Which means we can track them with the one we've captured!" Robin finished and they high-fived.

They heard Aqualad, Miss Martian and Kid Flash's collective sigh of amusement in their coms.

"Looks like both sets are headed for…Gotham city?" Robin gasped looking on Swift's holo-screen as a map appeared

"Home sweet home" she mumbled.

" _That far south?"_ Aqualad asked incredulously. " _M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out."_

Swift and Robin both stood up, the latter pressing a couple of buttons on his glove.

"Definitely a  **disaster** " Swift groaned as she peeled off her jeans and jacket to reveal her uniform.

"Heavy on the dis" Robin agreed to do the same. He turned his back on the driver and took off his shades. Swift smiled as she saw a flash of bright blue disappear behind his domino mask as he looked at her oddly.

"What?" Swift started.

"What happened to your cowl?" Robin pointed at her face.

"Oh… Yeah well, that was the monkey's fault. You know back there" She jerked her thumb at the truck. "Don't worry; I'll just pull the other one up."

She pulled up her grey mouth mask so that it fit snugly over the lower half of her face.

"Nice" Robin nodded in approval as his smaller battle mode bike came into view.

It stopped in front of them, and Robin opened the seat.

"Spare" he tossed her a spare helmet which was just plain black before he hopped on first.

Swift sat behind him arms linked around his waist as he revved up the engine. To a bystander, it would have been the perfect sappy ending to a movie as the two teens began to drive off into the sunset.

"Uh, Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"You do know Gotham city is in the other direction, right?"

"What? Oh… yeah…"

"*sigh* Robin"

* * *

_**Metropolis, August 3, 21:18 EDT 2010** _

A middle-aged man stood in front of a table in his diner waiting for the orders of two men sitting opposite each other. One was in a sharp black suit with hair slicked back neatly, and the other was in a loose grey suit with large glasses obscuring his blue eyes.

"Apple pie," the one with glasses said.

"The devil's food" the sharply dressed man smiled

Bibbo took the two menus away from the table with a smile. The two men were precious customers. The one with the glasses was his regular, the Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, and the other one in the black suit was none other than Bruce Wayne, the billionaire philanthropist. Needless to say, the latter's appearance at his diner was perfect for business.

The two customers watched as Bibbo went off to issue orders to the kitchen.

"Something tells me this isn't about dessert." Clark's pleasant demeanour changed instantly to serious.

"The boy needs you," Bruce said boldly.

Clark jumped. With Batman, there was no beating about the bush, or a cave for that matter. The man of steel loosened his red tie.

"No. He needs you; he needs Red. I'm just a constant reminder of what he's not"

"Sorry Clark but your dead wrong" Bruce raised his eyebrows. He'd always found stubbornness to be one of Clark's more frustrating traits, but this was just ridiculous.

"I know he…troubles you, but he's here. You have to get over the how and why. Trust me on this. The boy needs his father."

"No, he doesn't. He has the team, he has Red, and he has you. I don't understand why you're so worried" he crossed his arms and glared.

Bruce's eyes hardened. "Because I'm not going to sit around and watch as another kid suffers because of their parent's selfishness."

Clark looked affronted.

"For the last time Bruce, I'm  **not**  his father" stood up and put on a grey hat. "I'll take that pie to go" he called to Bibbo through the kitchen window before going up to pay at the counter.

Bruce's hands clenched angrily as Clark left the diner.

_That idiot! Where's the kryptonite when you need it. It's not Superboy's' fault he was created to be a Cadmus weapon._

He felt his phone go off in his pocket and flipped it open, to see Christine's number on the screen.

_Speaking of weapons._

"Hello"

" _Hey Dad_!" he heard her voice awkwardly call through the receiver.

"How's it going?" Bruce replied casually.

" _uh…_ " he heard Dick's voice join hers. Bruce could imagine them giving each other nervous glances.

" _You wanna tell him_ " Christine mumbled.

Bruce frowned. "Tell me what?" but he could already guess what it was.

" _It was your idea to tell him, so you do it! Besides I'm driving, I shouldn't be on the phone_ " Dick complained

" _Oh, so now you decide to be Mister Road Safety?_ " Christine snorted.

"What happened?" Bruce cut across firmly. Christine sighed.

" _Long story short. Tell the Justice League that the Bastard Professor Ivo is alive and that they better stand in line to break his head because I'm first."_

"Your bike is broken, isn't it?"

She didn't answer. Bruce took that as a yes.

"How did he know?" he lowered his voice as a waitress put his dessert on a table. He nodded in thanks, and she blushed scarlet before rushing off.

 _"He put GPS trackers inside the parts to his android which allowed his flying robot monkeys to locate the two real trucks and steal them,_ " Dick said.

"Do you know where they're going" Bruce pretended to smile because Bibbo was giving him strange looks from inside the kitchen.

" _We've connected one of the monkey's we caught to the R-Cycle's computer. Ivo's taking the parts to Gotham."_

"Do you know where in Gotham?"

" _No_ ,  _they're just driving through. We're not even at the city's outskirts so it might take a while. Wally may join us soon. We had a lot of road to back-ah!"_

Christine's voice rose two octaves.

"What happened?"

" _Nothing. Just Boy Wonder being irritating as usual!_ "

Dick cackled.

Bruce sighed as a real small smile formed. "Keep me posted and Dick?"

" _Yeah, Bruce?"_  Dick was probably smirking.

"Go easy on the curves"

* * *

_**Gotham City August 3, 20:30 EDT 2010** _

Swift sighed resting her chin on Robin's cloaked shoulder as the beep signalled the connection breaking.

"Tired?" Robin smirked as they passed the sign marking the outskirts of Gotham city.

"Yep. Ahhh, what I wouldn't give for one of Alfred's pumpkin pies."

"You said it."

Swift closed her eyes for a few moments enjoying the feel of the wind whipping through her hair.

Oh, how she had missed this feeling.

She felt a gust pass her ear, bringing with it a strange swishing sound.

She opened her eyes just as a flash of red and yellow came level with them. Kid Flash grinned as he looked sidelong at the two of them cramped on the same bike.

"Nice bike, where's the rest of it?"

Robin and Swift both narrowed their eyes angrily at the speedster.

"Ooh touchy" he smirked as the two of them bristled.

"I see you've changed too" Robin called quickly.

"You kidding? Ugh! I feel naked in civvies" Kid shivered.

"Thank you for sharing that lovely image Kid" Swift rolled her eyes.

Kid grinned apologetically. "Sorry. You still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham" Robin started, but Swift cut across him pointing to the screen.

"No, see! They're veering now. Off to-Wait is that-"

"Dude they're headed for our school!"

They were within the city boundaries headed for a large building with wrought iron gates.

"They're at the indoor basketball court" Swift called as they turned a corner for a shortcut.

"I don't know about you, but I think that's the perfect spot for us to slam dunk that Ivo"

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Swift groaned in exasperation as they sped past the school's large football pitch.

The basketball court was in sight. "Kid, you take the left exit! Robin and I will take the right" Swift called as Robin parked the R-Cycle behind a tree.

Kid nodded and sped off. Robin and Swift took off their helmets and quickly hid the bike behind a bush, before sneaking off to the other pair of doors.

As they rushed, they heard loud crashes and groans of pain. They peered through the door.

"Well, we've found Superboy" Robin smirked.

"And the android" Swift narrowed her eyes as the android looked down on Superboy ready to deliver a kill strike.

They silently rushed through the doors just as Kid Flash sped Superboy out of the line of attack.

Swift and Robin jumped in front of them and aimed their birdarangs at the android who said in a computerised voice.

" **Access Martian Manhunter** " he turned invisible, and the birdarangs exploded on the wall behind.

" **Access Red Tornado** "

"Oh not again" Swift groaned as a twister appeared beneath the android and propelled him forwards.

She was able to dodge in time, narrowly avoiding getting hit by her three teammates as they were thrown about the room. The android landed in front of her and took several menacing steps which caused Swift to back into a wall.

" **Access Black Canary"**  it punched. Swift dove through the gap between its legs and rolled to her feet. The android turned to face her and rushed her, throwing fast but heavy punches.

Swift ducked out of most of them and flipped back on the last one. As she spun in midair, a powerful shrieking sound hit her ears. She grasped at them to block it out as she was blasted back into the floor, right next to Kid Flash.

They both sat up groggily.

" **Access Captain Atom** "

Kid grabbed her arm and sped them both behind the raised seats as a blast of golden light hit the point where they were sitting.

She split from him half way and grapple gunned herself to the rafters.

Her gloves little-inbuilt lock picks were sharp if she could manage to cut some of the wires in the gaps of the android's shell-

She jumped on the android from above landing on its head. It swayed as Swift tried to pry her fingers into the gaps where the head connected to the neck.

The android's arms circled back and grabbed her by the waist flinging her to the side as Kid and Superboy, in turn, tried rushing it.

"Gotcha!" she heard a grunt as she landed into something soft-ish.

She opened her eyes to see Robin's face hovering inches below hers. He smirked.

"Y'know we seem to be  _bumping_  into each other a lot nowadays."

"You're just full of them today aren't you" Swift rolled her eyes when she felt another gust of wind and a sharp twang.

She quickly rolled the two of them over as an arrow shot through the Android and landed just inches from the spot they'd been lying in.

"That was close" Robin puffed as he and his partner both crouched on their haunches ready to spring.

They winced as with a loud crash Superboy was sent flying into the raised seats.

Swift saw the android's eyes glow red as hers and her partner's birdarangs went through it.

" **Access Superman** "

As the red beams of hot light approached the two birds, something hurtled from their side right into the two of them.

Swift groaned as she fell to the side covered by both Robin and Kid Flash. She heard Superboy as he roared.

"IT MAKES ME ANGRY!" she raised her head from under Robin's shoulder and saw Superboy jump on top of Ivo. The professor and his robot monkey scuttled away in terror.

"Guy's get up! Guys" She hissed. Robin and Kid Flash sat up shakily, and Swift jumped to her feet.

"WANNA SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER?"

"Great he's gone ballistic again" Kid cried out when he spotted the angry Superboy bashing the chairs after Ivo.

"Maybe not" Robin and Swift shared a grin.

"Amazo, Protect your master! Priority Alpha!" Ivo cried out fearfully, as he tried his best to sneak away, while Amazo, the android, blasted at Superboy.

"Gah!" he shrieked.

Swift smirked from her spot in the shadows, her yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.

"Leaving the party so soon."

Ivo tripped backwards down the steps. "We were just going to bring out the games" She giggled that eerie giggle which echoed throughout the entire court.

Ivo toppled on the floor, and two of his monkeys lifted him up to hover.

"Anyone wanna play keep-away?" Robin asked kicking Ivo.

"Oh Me! Me" Kid Flash called excitedly.

" **Superman** ," Amazo said, and he stomped hard on the floor causing it to shake violently. Kid tripped and flew across the room again.

Swift and Robin both threw their birdarangs again.

" **Martian Manhunter** " Amazo density shifted again, and the two birdarangs passed through him as Superboy landed in front of him. He stuck his arm in a punch to his head as Amazo said.

" **Superman** "

KABOOM!

Amazo's head exploded, the metallic body falling to the ground with a loud clang.

"Help me disassemble him! Now!" Robin called.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Swift grinned rushing down the steps as Robin went to the android's side.

"Dude, the guy has no head" Kid limped over to them massaging his shoulder.

"Don't take any chances" they all turned to see Aqualad and Miss Martian rush through the doors from the courtyard.

"Superboy, are you all right" the Martian girl flew over to Superboy and helped him stand.

"Fine," Superboy smiled "Feeling the aster" he grinned at Robin and Swift who both grinned back, before turning to disassemble the android.

"Hey! Where's Ivo?" Kid cried out. They all looked around. Ivo was nowhere to be seen.

"We need to do a perimeter search now!" Aqualad ordered.

"No point." Aqualad looked at her surprised, but Swift continued calmly as she took off Amazo's breastplate.

"The monkeys would've flown him out of the City's perimeter by now, and he'll be long gone by the time we've checked the whole school. Robin pull up that blue one."

"She's got a point" Robin agreed as he held out the blue wire for her to cut.

Aqualad sighed helping Kid Flash to one of the seats close by as Miss Martian helped Superboy.

"So now what?" Kid asked taking off a boot from his injured leg.

"Now you all go back to the cave and await instruction" a deep voice rumbled.

Everyone except Robin and Swift jumped as Batman stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, August 4, 01:06 EDT 2010** _

They all stood in the mission room with Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter.

As Team leader Aqualad did most of the talking with the occasional additions of Swift as she had led the New York team down south.

"The Amazo android is in pieces again. Safely being analysed at the two separate Star Labs. But Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android."

"Capturing the Professor will be a league priority" Black Canary nodded.

"But we understand your mission encountered…other complications" Martian Manhunter folded his arms.

Everyone shot a glance at Superboy who looked down at the ground.

"Complications come with the job" Batman stepped up. "Your ability to handle them have impressed the league."

"The whole league?" Superboy looked up hopefully.

"Given time, yes. Kryptonian's as you know have very hard heads."

"And thick skulls" Swift mumbled. Superboy looked down again grinning.

"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the League exists. Because there are some problems even, we can't handle individually."

"Please" Robin spat out annoyed "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask. Look familiar?" he held out the mysterious arrow from earlier.

Batman took it and examined it closely as Robin continued to rant.

"You were following us, babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

"We didn't follow you," Batman said calmly as Green Arrow took the arrow and examined it. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver.

Swift gulped. The arrow tip on the one he'd pulled out had a jagged edge, and the one they'd found was smooth and more generic in shape.

"And that's not your arrow" Robin deflated. Swift looked at the arrows thoughtfully

"But that means-" she began.

"Speedy!" Kid Flash interrupted her

"He has our backs" Aqualad agreed before Kid sped over and grabbed the arrow

"Souvenir!" he grinned.

Swift turned as Superboy walked over to Black Canary.

"I'm ready" he mumbled apologetically.

"Good because I'm here." She smiled. Superboy turned to look back at Swift who smirked.

"Told you so" She poked her tongue out cheekily.

Superboy grinned again before grabbing her and playfully ruffling her loose hair.

Batman looked down at the two of them. Half of him found the scene quite amusing but another half, the stronger protective paternal part of his personality, found that the Superboy was a bit too close to his goddaughter for comfort.

He looked at the rest of the team, most of them were smiling fondly at the pair of them, all save one.

 _Hmm…interesting._  Batman's eyes narrowed as Aqualad quietly observed the scene from the back of the group, his eyes oddly soft as he watched Swift launch a return attack on Superboy's dark hair.

Batman caught Robin's eye, and the boy wonder's smile faltered as he shot the Atlantean boy a suspicious glance.

_So, he's picked up on it too._

Batman thought as he barked:

"Swift! Robin! We're headed back to Gotham. Now!"

Swift ducked out from under Superboy's arms and smiled and waved goodbye as she entered the Zeta-tube. There was a flash of yellow light, and the Bat Clan disappeared

"Bats" Green Arrow shook his head. "Always so paranoid."

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, August 4, 02:23 EDT** _

The Batcave was quiet as Christine and Bruce both finished tidying up the area around the Batcomputer. Robin had long since gone to bed an hour ago, leaving the godfather and goddaughter alone, for the first time in a long time.

"Dad" Christine gulped as she carefully disposed of the various takeaway food containers that were left lying around the keyboard.

"Hmm?" Bruce grunted from a nearby workbench, where he was fixing his grapple gun.

"Today, I-I mean yesterday, when I was fighting Ivo's robots…something uh…well happened."

"Another superpower?" Bruce looked up from his work sternly.

She nodded quietly.

"What kind?" he asked.

"Well…uh…I just blew and well…I blasted the monkeys off the truck."

"A sonic blast?" Batman frowned, but she shook her head.

"No, not a sonic blast. It was, I don't know, a lot of air. Like I was blowing a gale out of my mouth or something, you know like Superman sometimes does, but a lot less powerful. I don't know, it was weird" She bristled uncomfortably where she stood.

Bruce however just sighed as he walked over to type the new information into the Batcomputer _._

"Can you remember exactly what triggered it?"

"I couldn't tell." Christine looked down at her feet. "l Ivo's monkeys were all over me and I wanted to get them off and it sorta, just happened."

"Hmm, a reflex. Much like the other powers" the dark knight muttered as he entered the data in. "It must be a side effect of your enhanced lung capacity. We'll test it out tomorrow-"

"Dad, what's going on?"

Bruce looked at his Goddaughter. Her face was determined, but he could still see the fear in her yellow eyes as she twisted her hands in front of her.

"You keep testing me, but you still haven't told me what the hell happened to me at Cadmus."

"Only because I still don't know the full results" Bruce answered her calmly. "So far all I have are hints and suspicions and no solid facts. But, once I know what is going on I will tell you everything. I promise"

He reached out to grip one of her hands in his comfortingly, though she still looked suspiciously at him.

It was hard for her to tell if he was lying or not. She could sense that part of what he said wasn't genuine. He knew more than what he was letting on, but he wasn't lying when he said he didn't know the whole story.

Seeing the mistrusting look on her face, Bruce sighed.

"You're tired. You should get to bed. Rest your body. We'll talk more about this new power in the morning alright."

"Alright. Goodnight." She sighed with exhaustion, letting go of his hands as she trudged up to bed.

Yet when she was halfway up the stairs, she paused, her ears pricked as she heard an old man sighing softly.

"I see you haven't told her yet."

"It's not the right time Alfred" Bruce muttered, his voice grim and deep with worry. "We still haven't tracked down the rest of Project Cadmus so we can't confirm the facts yet. I'd rather not put that burden on her before we're sure of the truth."

"Even so. It seems unfair to not confide in her your suspicions about her true heritage." Alfred sounded very disapproving, but Bruce stood his ground.

"I'm sure she'll understand why we didn't tell her."

"For her sake, I hope you're right master Bruce. I truly do." Alfred sighed as he walked away from the dark knight.

_What the hell was that about?_

Christine's heart hammered as she silently dashed up the stairs and back into the main manor.

_"_ _We still haven't tracked down project Cadmus."_

_"_ _Your suspicions about her true heritage-"_

_But what does Project Cadmus have to do with my heritage?_

She thought wildly as she tucked herself in under her bed covers, staring up at the canopy of her four-poster bed.

For some reason, an image of the white owl mask flashed over her mind's eye.

_No, I'm just being stupid._

Yet even as she shut her eyes, her head was swimming as she relived the conversation in her head repeatedly like a broken record.

_Just what is going on here Dad? What are you hiding from me that could be so bad?_

She shut her eyes and sighed, feeling exhaustion begin to consume her in its warm embrace.

Anxious though she was, she was still too tired and sore to do anything. She'd have to wait till tomorrow to take any action.

_Crack!_

She turned over quickly, at the sound.

It seemed to have come from the direction of her room's balcony, which was closed but had the curtains open to let in the view of the stormy sky outside.

_Must've been the lightning._

She shook her head to herself as she heard the rain begin to hammer down against the glass balcony door while the wind whipped and howled ominously. In short, it was Gotham weather at its finest.

Christine, a seasoned Gothamite in every respect, merely rolled her eyes and turned her back on the balcony as another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky; briefly illuminating a dark shadowy figure crouched on the railing of her wet balcony.

A dark shadow, with the eyes of an owl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Episode 5 is up. I'm finding the remastering is going far quicker than I expected.
> 
> Anyways I think you guys can now see the new ship coming into play, and yes even though it is with a guy, Christine is Bi (or at least bi-curious). Even when I was writing the original version years ago, I always saw my OC as liking both boys and girls. I don't know why it was just something I always thought she would be.
> 
> Anyways if you enjoyed this chapter, please review. Your Reviews give me strength.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	6. Infiltrators

_**Wayne Manor, August 8, 07:22 EDT, 2010** _

"Chris?"

Christine Evelyn Hallows blinked. She was sitting at the Manor's kitchen island, fiddling with the spoon of her porridge.

Opposite her preparing his own breakfast at the fridge, her partner Dick Grayson quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry Wonder Boy, I just zoned out. What were you saying?" she sighed heavily running a hand through her hair.

"Just wondering if you could pull up the weather reports for today"

"Oh right, sure" she quickly checked her phone, eyes strangely distant even as she found the day's weather forecast.

"You okay? You don't look like you're feeling the Aster" Dick frowned only to suddenly nod in realization as he checked the date on her phone.

"Oh…right. I forgot. It's the anniversary today, isn't it?"

"Four years Dick" Christine mumbled her jaw tense. "Four years since Papa was declared M.I.A. and still I haven't found anything. And then to top it off, this whole thing with Cadmus and my new powers and-Agh!"

She huffed, slamming her palm down hard on the island counter.

"Hey, it's okay." Dick reached out to pat her hand comfortingly as she sighed heavily.

"Sorry. All this stuff that's happening is just so confusing and I'm not sure what to do anymore. And I'm sure Dad's hiding something from me."

"What do you mean?" Dick's frown deepened worriedly as she shook her head.

"I heard him and Alfred talking a few nights ago as I was going upstairs to bed. Alf was trying to convince Dad to tell me the truth about  _my heritage_. And then Dad said that I wasn't to know anything until they'd finished investigating the rest of Project Cadmus-"

"Wait, hang on! I thought we had destroyed Cadmus when we freed Superboy?" Dick almost spilt his bowl of cereal as he made to sit down opposite her.

"That's what I thought to. But I've been digging into some of Dad's files and, well, turns out we only destroyed the Washington Branch. The league thinks there might be more secret facilities hidden around the globe."

"Maybe he's searching for a cure to that stuff Blockbuster gave you?" Dick shrugged. "Maybe he thinks because it was created by Cadmus, that the solution might be there as well."

"Yeah, maybe" Christine swallowed a spoonful of lukewarm porridge. "But that doesn't explain Alfred's ' _needs to know about her true heritage'_  spiel"

"Yeah, that is odd" Dick agreed. They chewed their food in silence, both slowly becoming lost in their own thoughts.

Christine was wondering how she was going to get through the day without going mad from all the questions bouncing around her head.

Dick, on the other hand, had questions of his own.

_If Bruce is suspicious of Cadmus having any connection with Chris then that must mean…no…it can't be possible._

He chewed on his food to hide the horrified realization that was creeping up inside him.

It was an absurd idea, yet it was the only one that could possibly make sense.

He forced a smile on his face as Alfred walked in, just finishing his morning cleaning duties.

It would seem the Boy Wonder had a little digging to do in the Bat-computer tonight.

* * *

_**Mount Justice Beach, August 8, 2010, 09:58 EDT 2010** _

Christine was wearing a purple one piece and white flip-flops, with her white hair loose and shades covering her yellow eyes.

She stretched enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin as the green figure of M'gann swished past, red boogie board in hand.

"Hello, Megan! We should hit the beach every day!" She pointed to the water as, Christine, Dick, Kaldur, and Superboy and stepped out behind her.

"First a moment of silence for our absent colleague" Dick sighed in an overly sad tone.

"Poor Wally" M'gann pouted.

_Poor Wally indeed._

Wally went to a public school and it was his first day today, unlike Dick and Christine, who both would have been starting next week had Ivo's Amazo android not destroyed part of it. Now they both had three extra weeks of holidays.

"Well rather him than me!" Christine smiled as a gust of wind blew through her hair playfully. She took a deep breath before punching Dick's shoulder.

"OW!" he called as she rushed away giggling into the water.

"The last one to the water's a rotten egg" she laughed as she heard splashes behind her. She stopped and looked around when the water level reached her waist. Kaldur, M'gann and Superboy were all wading towards her but Dick was nowhere to be seen.

"Di-Robin!" Christine corrected herself just in time. She saw something dark blue in the corner of her eye and turned. But nothing was there. She narrowed her eyes.

"Robi-GAH!" she shrieked in surprise as a pair of arms looped around her waist from behind and lifted her upwards, tossing her into the air before she landed with a large splash front on into the water.

She spluttered trying to pull her hair out of her shades as Dick cackled wickedly behind her.

All in all, it was a fun day. The five of them spent three hours playing in the water before Kaldur suggested a game of beach volleyball. As there were five of them, Christine decided to set up the picnic rug and barbeque whilst simultaneously keeping the other scores.

"Guys food's ready!" She called after an hour or so. They all rushed over. Dick tapped her left shoulder and, when she turned, leaned over her right shoulder and plucked her sausage from its fork.

"Hey!"

He grinned devilishly, walloping down the last of his stolen bounty in her scowling face. The others exchanged looks of amusement and exasperation.

They finished their meals and one by one flopped down onto their backs in the sand.

"Ahhh" Christine looked up at the clear blue sky.

She heard snickering and raised her head slightly. Dick, Kaldur and M'gann were collecting sand in the buckets they'd brought along. She looked next to her and saw Superboy lying down beside her. He was lying quite still, and his eyes were shut gently.

"Superboy?" she whispered.

"I'm awake," he said keeping his eyes shut.

"What are you doing?"

"Listening"

"Oh," Christine looked back up at the sky and closed her eyes too. "What are you listening to?"

"I don't know."

There was a silence as they both just lay back on the hot sand. Christine smiled as she heard the gulls squawking from far off in the distance, along with the laughs and murmuring of their friends nearby. With her echolocation, she could see in her mind's eye the beach in full and feel the small crab nearby her body burrowing its way into the protection of the sand.

"Swift?" Superboy's voice spoke again.

"Hmm?" she grunted as she felt him shift beside him.

"Have you ever wished you could fly?"

Christine opened her eyes and looked again at Superboy. His eyes were now open, and he was looking at the sky with a longing expression.

"Yes," Christine looked back up and watched as a gull hovered high above them.

"If you were a bird, where would you fly to?" Superboy asked as the bird tilted its wings and circled around. Christine sighed.

"Anywhere, because I'd be free to go wherever the hell I want. No borders no boundaries."

Superboy looked at her again. Her eyes were shut, and her breathing slowly turned steady.

"No boundaries…that sounds nice" he smiled as he too closed his eyes.

And with that, the two of them drifted off into a doze.

* * *

They all stood in the main hall of the cave with Batman. Christine, or rather Swift as she was in her hero gear, scratched her head. There was still sand stuck in her hair no matter how hard she'd scrubbed at it in the showers. Even M'gann had tried to help scrub at it.

She ripped off her cowl, messing up the small flat bun of white hair beneath.

"Argg…I don't believe this!" She rolled her eyes before undoing her hair and shaking it out.

Batman narrowed his eyes at her before glancing at Robin. He never did like his protégé's revealing their faces when they were supposed to be in uniform. Even now as they were surrounded by friends and allies only.

He supposed he should have been thankful that her transformation had changed her looks significantly from how they had been before.

He watched as Aqualad reached forwards to help hold her cowl while she re-tied her hair. The two of them were doing well as Team leader and lieutenant. Despite an initially awkward start, the two of them seemed to balance one another well. Their bond wasn't quite as solid nor as smooth as it was with their mentors, but it was at least enough to keep the rest of the team in line and in check.

_Let's hope their new bond can handle the addition of a new teammate._

The Bat thought as he watched the nearby Beta-Tube glow yellow.

**_Recognized Green Arrow 08, Artemis B07_ **

The whole team blinked as Green Arrow stepped out followed by a teenage girl. She had tanned skin and blond hair like the green archer. Like him, she too wore green but wore a sleeveless cropped top with a lighter arrow symbol. On the bottom, she wore matching green leggings with black combat boots, utility belt and knee pads, green fingerless gloves and a green quiver filled with arrows. Her slanted blue eyes were assessing them all coldly from within a green mask, her blond hair in a low ponytail swishing as she went to stand in front of them. In her hands was a large green bow.

Green Arrow coughed and stepped forwards.

"Team I would like to introduce Artemis, your new teammate"

Swift glanced at the girl's quiver and glanced at Batman who nodded.

She caught Robin's eye and he raised his eyebrows in confirmation.

So, this was their saviour with the mystery arrow huh?

Aqualad was the first to recover he stepped forwards holding out his hand. "I'm Aqualad, the team's leader."

"Nice to meet you" she shook his hand tersely before letting go. Aqualad glanced nervously at Swift who took his cue and stepped forwards.

"This is my second in command Swift"

Swift extended her hand and Artemis took in a hard grip as her eyes swept up and down her as she sized her up. Swift nodded, as her mouth was covered, strengthening her grip and the white slits in her domino mask narrowed.

_Partial Asian roots. Her muscle tone suggests extensive, possibly years, of conditioning and training. Most likely the training was very harsh considering her defensive and aggressive body language. Overall, not bad, actually pretty cute._

She mused as Artemis shook hands with the rest of them.

"I thought you said there were six people already on this team?" Artemis turned to Green Arrow and Batman with raised eyebrows.

"Kid Flash is on his way" Swift smirked behind her mouth mask. Only Robin and Swift and occasionally Superboy ever talked to the Batman so brashly, the girl must have more guts than she thought.

"I'm sure you two will get along famously" Miss Martian clapped her hands together delightedly as a Zeta tube opened behind them.

**_Recognised Kid Flash B04_ **

Wally tumbled through the tube wearing his red and yellow beachwear, carrying a caddy, a beach-ball and a surfboard with lots of suntan lotion on his nose.

"The Wall Man is here! Let's get this party star-" he tripped, and the entire lot flew out of his hands. Batman tilted his head to the side as the colourful beach ball flew his way. It missed, and he narrowed his eyes.

"-ted" Wally looked up at them all slightly abashed.

Robin buried his face into Swift's shoulder to stifle his laughter.

"Wall man huh? Oh, I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" Artemis smirked smugly as she stood to tower over Wally who looked up taking notice of her for the first time.

"Uh who's this?" he asked standing up.

"Artemis, your new teammate"

Wally glanced at Swift and Robin who both shrugged. He turned back to Artemis his eyes narrowed.

"Kid Flash. Never heard of you"

"She's my new protégé" Green Arrow put an arm around Artemis's shoulder.

"What happened to your old one" Wally exclaimed as another Zeta tube opened. They all turned as the computerized voice stated.

**_Recognised Speedy B07_ **

"Well for starters he doesn't go by Speedy anymore"

Swift's eyebrows went even higher than she could have even thought as the auburn-haired teen stepped towards them.

"Call me Red Arrow"

He was wearing a sleeveless stealth suit, mostly black with a red chest and collar. His quiver was attached by two dark grey shoulder straps and his hands were covered by black gloves.

"Wow…" she breathed.

He smirked her way and gave her a small wink. Swift gulped, feeling her face heat up slightly under her mask.

Batman and Robin both snapped their heads to look at her, both sets of eyes narrowed. Swift turned to look at the floor.

"Roy…" Green Arrow stood still in shock "you look-"

"Replaceable" Roy, or rather Red Arrow, snapped glaring at his old mentor.

"It's not like that" Green Arrow shook his head, "You told me you were going solo"

"So why waste time finding a sub? Can  _she_  even use that bow?" Red Arrow sneered at Artemis who folded her arms and spat back.

"Yes  _she_  can"

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Wally cried out in exasperation.

"I'm his/She's my niece," the two green archers said in unison.

"Another niece?" Robin and Swift both quirked eyebrows at Green Arrow who gave them a sheepish grin, though inside he was fuming in frustration.

_Damn Bat's and their genius intellect_

"But she's not your replacement" Aqualad calmly interjected "We have always wanted you on the team. And we have no quota on archers"

"And if we did, you know who we'd pick" Wally added glaring at Artemis who sighed.

"Whatever Baywatch I'm here to stay!"

_Oh, I like her._

Swift's smirk was growing wider. Forget the G-gnomes, CADMUS could run for years off the grid with the amount of electricity crackling between these two.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" She leaned in to whisper in Robin's ear.

"You have no idea" he snickered.

She shook her head smiling fondly.

"You came to us for a reason" Aqualad stated.

"Yeah a reason named Dr Serling Roquette"

"Oh!" Swift pulled up her purple holo-computer and began typing away.

"Nano-robotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City." Robin read over her shoulder as several holo-screens appeared around them.

"Didn't she vanish two weeks ago?" Swift looked up at Red Arrow.

" **Abducted**  two weeks ago" He nodded. "By the League of Shadows"

"Whoa! You want us to rescue her from the shadows?" Robin exclaimed excitedly.

"Hardcore!" Kid Flash and Robin both fist-bumped one another

"Already rescued her" Red Arrow stated walking over to pull up another hologram. "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it the FOG, comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nano-tech infiltrators. Capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh bone…"

Swift shuddered at the mention of the last two.

"But its true purpose isn't mere destruction, its theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen Intel to the Shadows."

"Providing them access to weapons, strategic defence, cutting-edge science and tech…" Swift concentrated hard as she uploaded the files to hers and Robin's holo-computers.

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking, yeah. Sounds like the Shadows" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Like  _you_  know anything about the Shadows," Wally pouted. Artemis smirked, and he snapped. "WHO ARE YOU?!"

Red Arrow rolled his eyes "Roquette's working on a virus to render the FOG inert"

"But if the Shadows know she can do that…" Robin looked at Swift's data worriedly.

"They'll target her. You've kept her off the grid, right?" Swift looked up from her work.

"I stashed her in the local high school's computer lab" Red Arrow nodded.

"You left her alone?!" Green Arrow asked shocked.

"She's safe enough for now" Red replied calmly.

"Then lets you and I keep her that way" Green Arrow reached forward, but Red Arrow stepped back glaring.

"You and I? Don't you wanna take your new protégé?"

Green Arrow was about to retort when Batman placed a hand on his shoulder. He sighed.

"You brought this to the Team. It's their mission. Which means it's hers now too."

"Then my job's done." Red Arrow walked towards the Zeta tube.

**_Recognised Speedy-_ **

"That's Red Arrow. B Zero Seven. Update"

* * *

_**Happy Harbor High, August 8, 2010, 21:53 EDT** _

They were all at Happy Harbor High guarding the doctor who was sitting in one of the IT labs at the teacher's desks. Robin, Swift, Kid Flash and Aqualad Stood at different points along the room. Swift was next to the window which overlooked the quad and Aqualad was peering through the window on the door.

_Miss Martian link us up. We do not want the Shadow's intercepting our coms._

He asked. Miss Martian who was on the roof outside, glanced down at Superboy who was on the ground below and nodded.

_Everyone online?_

Miss Martian spoke through the mind link. Swift didn't even notice the voice. She was so absorbed in watching the live feed from the school's security cameras.

_Wow! Even at night, schools are so boring._

Artemis looked up at her oddly.

_Ugh! This is weird._

_And distracting._

Dr Roquette glared hard at her own computer screen.

_Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddy computer with less RAM than a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen think in my skull?!_

_Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?_  Kid Flash snagged a bite from his chocolate bar.

 _Pot! Kettle! Have you met?_  Artemis glowered at him.

_Hey! Hey! I do NOT need attitude from the Newbie who drove Red Arrow from the team_

Artemis jumped off the desk she was sitting on.

_That is so not on me!_

_FATE OF THE WORLD AT STAKE!_

Roquette sounded pissed. Swift couldn't blame her.

_She started it!_

Kid Flash pouted like a child _._

_I don't care which one of you started it, I'll bloody finish it!_

Swift snapped at the two of them giving a nasty Bat Glare.

_Whoa there, missy, keep your head on._

Robin put both his hands up quickly. Swift sighed before going back to perusing the security feeds.

 _How about I help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the perimeter_ Artemis sighed.

_Good idea._

Aqualad folded his arms as Artemis walked past him and out the door. He went to stand beside Swift as Robin and Kid Flash talked behind them.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," She said before he could even open his mouth.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Swift looked back at him her eyes narrowed dangerously and he backed up. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"No, I'm sorry. Today's just been, rough." She sighed head down.

"Didn't you enjoy yourself at the beach" Aqualad frowned and she sighed.

"I did. It's just…it's complicated. A lot of, uh…personal stuff on my mind if you catch my drift?

Aqualad nodded, eyes softening as he felt a wave of what felt like sadness seeping from her mind. Then suddenly it was gone as Kid Flash's thoughts blasted through their heads.

 _Well whatever it is, it couldn't possibly be worse than today, though right? I mean with HER around!_  Kid glared at the door Artemis just left through.

Dick sighed.

_You might wanna cut her some slack. It was HER arrow that saved your but against Amazo_

_What?_ Kid choked on his bar

 _No that was Speedy-I mean Red Arrow's Arrow, right?_  He looked towards Swift who shrugged and said quite plainly.

_Nope!_

_Hmph!_  Kid pouted.  _Well still not giving her the satisfaction_

 _You know I can still hear you!_  Artemis's voice cried out over the link _._

"ARGH!" Kid cried out loud clutching his head.

_I couldn't get the Justice League._

Roquette pinched her nose in aggravation.

Aqualad turned to her calmly.

_The Virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon. Can you track it?_

Roquette turned to look at Aqualad incredulously

_My Utility FOG is not a weapon. It's science. Brilliant Science and of course I can track it. But I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and "Assassinate me" in neon_

Aqualad put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

_We will protect you._

Swift felt her shoulders relax a little as she felt Aqualad's calm seep into her through the mental link.

She walked over and plugged her holo-computer into the same machine. Roquette gave her a sceptical look.

_For an extra boost; unless you want to be stuck with seven moody teenage superheroes for a few more hours?_

_Thanks._ Roquette's scowl softened into a grimace she hit enter.

_Tracking FOG now._

Swift who gave Aqualad the thumbs up as the computer finished the search, just as Artemis said through the link.

_Mmm…that boy_

Swift face palmed as she saw an image of Superboy's behind from Artemis's perspective

_He can hear you! We all can hear you!_

Miss Martian snapped possessively.

_Oh, I know_

Artemis smirked. Swift rolled her eyes.

_Keep your eyes on the prize girls._

_Already doing that._ Artemis's smirk got even wider.

Swift felt Superboy's nervous confusion through the mind link and glanced at Robin and Kid Flash, both of whom were giggling uncontrollably from their spot to Roquette who had her face in her hands mouthing.

"Why me?"

_Miss Martian, Dr Roquette has located the FOG. Reconfigure the Bio-ship so that Swift, Robin and Superboy can pursue._

"Are you sure about splitting up?" Swift asked as she headed for the door

"I don't know," Aqualad admitted quietly. "But at least this way Artemis and Miss Martian will be less…distracted and Superboy can be spared from more embarrassment"

"Ahh" Swift nodded knowingly. "Gotcha. OK well, I'll keep you posted if something comes our way."

"Please do"

Swift paused looking at Aqualad.

"Here take this" she tossed him a small bottle he caught it.

"What is it?" he held it up to the light and examined the light green liquid.

"Antidote. You might want to hang onto it just in case. The Shadows usually tip their weapons with some sort of poison."

 _Thank you._ Aqualad nodded smiling.

 _Don't mention it Kal. Good luck everyone!_ Swift blushed as she called over the mind link, running into the corridor after Robin.

She smirked at Artemis and Miss Martian as she passed them by on the way to the Bio-ship.

_And you two, stop arguing and keep an eye on that scientist, or else there will be no Superboy for either of you._

_Man, for a short-arse she sure is bossy._ Artemis folded her arms at Miss Martian who stayed silent as the younger girl called over the mental link.

_I heard that!_

"Good grief what are we getting ourselves into" Swift rolled her eyes as she took the helm of the ship. Beside her, Robin and Superboy prepped themselves in front of a couple of consoles.

"Typed in the coordinates?" She asked.

"Yep!" Robin popped the P as the ship began to rise.

They took off. After a few moments of flying, Superboy spoke up softly.

"Uh…Swift"

"Yes, Superboy?" Swift smiled down at him kindly. Superboy looked down at his fingers in his lap.

"What was going on back there? I mean…why was Artemis looking at my butt like that?"

"Uhh…" Swift glared down at Robin who was shaking with silent mirth.

"Superboy" She began, sounding as if she were treading on a minefield. "You have had uh…the  _talk,_  haven't you?"

"The talk?" Superboy cocked his head to the side, in that innocent puppy dog way.

"Well, you know…" Swift's ears went very pink "the talk, the birds and the bees that sorta-"

"What she means is, do you know about sex?" Robin rolled his eyes.

"Very subtle Boy Wonder" Swift rolled her eyes as Superboy's face turned very red.

"Oh…yeah. I mean I do it's just. What does it have to do with Artemis?"

"Well…when a girl finds a guy…attractive…she might look and act…differently around him than she would somebody else and start looking at him in a different way" Swift mumbled.

"Oh?" Superboy looked back to his holo-screen nodding slowly

"Yeah." Swift sighed in relief which was short lived when Superboy asked.

"So, am I attractive?"

"Uh…" Swift looked away from Superboy because Robin was smirking deviously at her from where he sat.

"Yeah, Swift answer the question. Is Superboy attractive or not?"

The simple answer was yes. To not admit Superboy's good looks were as stupid as not knowing the earth revolved around the sun. But still, as attractive as he was, he still was like a little brother. A little brother who was currently looking at her with wide confused puppy dog blue eyes-

The Bio-ship beeped, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief as she saw they were approaching their destination.

"Oh, look where here, thank god" she muttered under her breath in relief as she saw the Star Labs Logo from a distance. Her face fell.

"Oh no"

Robin and Superboy turned and gasped.

"Robin to Aqualad. We're over Philadelphia. We've located the Shadow's next target Star Labs. We're too late. It's destroyed. Totally destroyed. The fog decimated it."

Their eyes widened in shock as the logo on the side of the building crumbled. Robin turned to Swift

Her hand was over her mouth.

"This is bad." She breathed as the building came crashing down before their very eyes. "Star Labs is cutting edge science and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy"

"What's our next move?" Robin asked.

" _Rescan for that FOG. Find it. We're moving the Doctor_ " Aqualad ordered through the com.

"Wait, Aqualad!" Swift cried out before she could be cut off. "I have an idea. Robin, Superboy continue to scan."

"Right!" Superboy stood up to stand beside Robin, occasionally glancing back at Swift who was mumbling into her com. He caught phrases like "doppelganger" and "other location" as the Bio-Ship continued to circle the ruined Star Labs facility.

After about an hour or so of talking with Aqualad Robin called out.

"Got the location!"

"Com me if there are any more problems. Robin's got a lead. Oh, and guys. If I hear that any of you have been arguing over stupid stuff, the League of Shadows will be the least of your worries. Swift out."

She smirked as the indignant snaps of Kid Flash and Artemis were cut off. God! Those two were like a pair of snappy terriers.

She looked back down at Robin who was looking pale.

"The next targets a Wayne Tech facility. In theory, it's system's software could be used to hack the -"

"AHEM!" Swift coughed loudly and Robin stopped short. Superboy looked concernedly.

"The what?"

"Doesn't matter." Robin replied quickly "What matters is Wayne Tech operates a twenty-four-hour workforce. We'll never evacuate the building in time!"

"Oh yes we will" Swift grunted as she pushed up the Bio-Ships speed.

Robin and Superboy held on for their lives as the Bio-ship suddenly burst forth through the air. The view of the city below became a blur of dark shapes and colours as they flew tenfold of their original speed

"Holy Crap! Holy Crap! Holy Crap! SWIFT! SLOW DOWN YOU CRAZY BIRD!" Robin cried out in terror.

" _Aqualad to Robin and Superboy. Is everything alright?! What's happened?_ " Aqualad sounded shocked on the other end.

"No idea!" Superboy laughed out loud. "But this is awesome!" he whooped.

" _Swift!"_ Aqualad called out on the other line sounding worried " _Swift do you copy! What is going on?_ "

"Nothing Aqualad. Just showing these boys how to drive a bio-ship." Swift finally answered opening her eyes gently just as they came to hover over the Wayne tech building.

She grinned down at Robin who was gripping the keyboard in front of him like a lifeline. He glared at her as she laughed at him.

"That wasn't funny!"

"Ha! You should see your face" she giggled, putting a hand up to her com. "Swift to Aqualad, we're at Wayne Tech. Aqualad?"

She paused. Through her com, she could hear grunting and thumps of pain.

"Aqualad? Aqualad do you copy." more thumps, followed by a groan. She looked at Robin.

"It's downloading" he nodded at her and she opened the back hatch.

"Alright," She said suddenly businesslike. "you two get the virus -"

"Don't need it!"

"Superboy" Swift and Robin cried out together as Superboy jumped out the hatch.

Robin swore loudly.

Swift sighed "I'll circle around, try and activate all the security protocols in the building, while you get the virus up and running"

"Roger that, NO!" he cried out suddenly.

"What?" Swift glowered.

"Not you! The Shadows! They've set the FOG loose!"

"Then GO! GO!" she cried out

Robin jumped out the hatch, using his grapple gun to swing to the ground. Swift set to work straight away.

"Wayne Tech Override R-G-2! Attention all personnel. This is a code red emergency evacuation; please use the emergency fire exits as quickly as you can. This is not a drill. I repeat. This is not a drill!"

She swooped around the building several times as people came pouring out of the fire escapes like ants out of a drowning ant hill. A grey smog crashed through the windows of the upper stories.

"Robin, where are you?"

" _Still trying to find a computer! The FOG's decimated most of them_ " Robin cried out.

"There should be one in the cafeteria at the cashier, on the tenth floor," Swift said pulling up a map of the tenth floor in front of her.

" _Roger that! Any word from Superboy?_ "

"No, he's still up against that Shadow. Superboy!" Swift called out from her com. He didn't answer but Swift could hear him grunting and crashing as he fought.

" _Please be linked to the mainframe! Please be linked to the mainframe!_ " she heard Robin pray.

She saw him as she passed and double tracked to hover in front of the glass window. Then she saw him jump up and down.

" _Yes! The infiltrators have been outfiltrated_!" He whooped as the cashier lady ran out the door.

Swift's eyes widened when she glanced at the building. The grey fog that had been hovering around the building was now a slimy red mass. She sighed in relief but paused as a holographic image appeared over the top of the frontal display saying, "Structural compromise".

"Robin jump, the ceiling's going to go!" Robin turned to her and leapt through the glass. Swift opened a hole in the roof of the Bio-ship and raised one of the organic seats to catch him as he landed.

She landed the Bioship on a nearby rooftop before getting off her seat as Robin landed hard in a crouch, only to fall over sideways.

"You okay?" She reached out to pat him down as her partner panted for breath in his seat.

"Yeah…I'm fine." he panted only to wince and clutch at his ankle.

"You've landed badly" Christine muttered as she knelt to take his boot off and inspect the injury.

"Hmm, looks like you'll have to rest up for a few days" she looked up at her partner who groaned.

The ramp to the bioship opened and Superboy jogged up to meet them.

He looked tired.

"Oh, hey Superboy! What's up? Did you catch the Shadow?" Robin made a valiant attempt at his usual swagger as he made his way back to his seat. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more of a stagger into the console.

"That Professor Ojo, or whatever, is with Batman and Flash. They're taking him back to the League. Batman said to pick up everyone else and go back to the cave for the debriefing." Superboy sighed as he sat down in his own console.

"What happened to your leg" the super clone frowned at Robin as he noticed the latter nursing it gingerly.

"Bad landing and a sprained ankle" Robin grunted.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there's a cool pack somewhere in here" Swift quickly moved to the back of the ship, just as Aqualad's voice rang through the ship.

_"Aqualad to beta-squad. Doctor Roquette is safe and secure, but our assailants got away. Have you safely neutralized the fog?"_

"Neutralized and destroyed. How's our new teammate coming along?" Robin smirked as he heard Wally grumble in the background.

"There were a couple of hiccups, but Artemis is doing well for her first night. And you three?"

"We're okay," Superboy said from his seat at the console. "Robin's sprained his ankle-"

"Don't worry, it's not too bad." Swift sighed heavily as she finally came out from the ship storage with a cool pack in hand. "Here Wonder-boy, catch"

"Thank you. Ah! Cold-cold!" Robin caught the pack, almost dropping it as the frozen chunk hit his fingers.

"A cold pack that's cold, what a revelation!" Swift rolled her eyes as she looked out the window and huffed.

"Don't worry everything's cool over here. Let's meet up at the cave for debriefing. Beta-squad out"

* * *

The lone figure of an elderly man with long white hair, a scar over his left eye, and wearing a red robe, sat cross-legged in the middle of the dimly lit room. He as surrounded by tall screens high above on which several figures glowed ominously.

"Report" a deep male voice commanded.

"Masters" the man opened his eyes from his meditative pose. "Before Ojo's capture, he transmitted the Star-labs data required. But the Wayne Tech data still eludes us"

"Once again these young- hmph -Heroes interfere" one of the screens snorted. "So it is fortunate we have an operative on the inside"

The man on the floor smirked as another voice, a woman's suddenly asked.

"And what of this new information we have on Batman's second protégé? Is all of this true? Is she really a genomorph?"

"She is." The first male voice clipped "Though her existence is not documented amongst Cadmus files."

"Could it be possible that she was created before Cadmus was founded?" another man's voice asked quietly.

"That's impossible." The first man's voice snapped waspishly. "Project Cadmus was founded sixteen years ago. That's two years before Swift was created. It's clear whoever created her was one of our own researchers, working behind our backs to further their own careers"

"Or working for someone else." a fourth, higher pitched voice suggested with a wicked smirk.

"Whoever they are, we can all agree we need to find them quickly," the woman's voice from before said thoughtfully. "If they were clever enough to make a genomorph behind our backs, then they'll be smart enough to help us advance our other projects"

"Agreed" the second man's quiet voice decided before addressing the man still sitting on the room floor.

"Sensei, you will instruct your men to find out all you can about Swift and this scientist that created her. Bring them in, alive for questioning. Is that understood"

"Yes, master. I will not fail you" the sensei bowed low on the floor as the screens high above him flickered to black.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, August 9, 00:42 EDT 2010** _

Dick Grayson's eyes narrowed as he looked at the computer screen.

He had just hacked into the Batcomputers systems. Not a big feat really, seeing as he had done it many times before.

Back then he'd only hacked for fun, or because he was bored, but this time it was different.

_If Bruce knows what happened to Chris, then why won't he tell her? What could possibly be so bad that he'd want to hide it under so much encryption?_

"Finally," he grumbled as he finally got through the last firewall that separated him from a file labelled  **Research_SwiftB02**.

He double clicked on the file and frowned as he went down the page. Lines and graphs of test results blared in his face. Many of them he knew about because he had been there when they'd been put into the system, yet even as he scrolled to a different tab in the document he felt his heart stop in his chest.

"No way…"

"Master Dick, what are you doing down here? I thought I told you to go to bed. Miss Christine has already retired for the evening and Master Bruce-" Alfred paused his lecture, his feet literally stopping midway down the stairs to the main platform.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of the large screen and the words that blared out at the Boy Wonder.

_Name: Christine Evelyn Hallows_

_Age: 14_

_Gender: female_

_Species: Genomorph Hybrid (Human/various owl and bat species)_

"Master Dick" Alfred stepped towards the young bird whose shoulders were now hunched over the keyboard.

"You knew didn't you?" he muttered, his voice a dark and deadly murmur.

"Yes." The old butler sighed heavily as the young boy rounded on him.

"That's all you have to say? Yes? You and Bruce have known Christine was a Cadmus genomorph all these years and you never thought to tell us?"

"Master Dick you must understand" Alfred's face was worn and tired as he made to put a hand on his charge's shoulder "We didn't know for certain she was a genomorph until you and your friends went to Cadmus."

"But you still knew she wasn't completely human?" Dick spats.

"We had our suspicions, but we couldn't be certain" Alfred nodded "I have been trying to persuade master Bruce for years to tell the young Miss the truth. However, he is adamant she remains unaware of her true nature until he has found all the facts."

"But  _you_  still could've told her Alf!" Dick shook his head in disbelief "You could've told her the truth, why didn't you?"

"Because I gave Master Bruce my word that I wouldn't tell another living soul. And as you know young master, I never back out of my word" Alfred raised a stern brow at Robin, though it was quick to soften as he added.

"I admit there have been moments where I have been tempted to break it."

"Why didn't you?" Robin asked.

"That is a discussion for another time," Alfred muttered as, with a few swipes of his fingers on the keyboard, the Bat-Computer shut off.

"But-"

"Master Dick, I promise I will explain everything in due time. Right now, it is late, and you need your sleep. We all do"

And with that, Alfred gripped his charge's shoulder and steered him out of the Batcave, unaware of the black shadow of the Batman stepping out from the shadows behind the computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah that's Episode 6. Which means ARTY's finally on the team (YEAH! Wally/Artemis all the way!)
> 
> We finally have a basic idea of Swift's new powers come from. She's a genomorph hybrid of a human and various owl bat species. So far her powers include Enhanced senses, claw-like hands and feet, Nightvision, Echolocation and super breath (which basically comes from super-enhanced lung capacity). I probably don't think I'll add any more powers.
> 
> Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and keep reviewing for more.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	7. Denial & Scrutiny

**_Gotham City, August 27, 04:49 EDT, 2010_ **

Swift POV:

I have been walking down in these sewers for hours now. Oh yes, the Gotham Sewers. The most fun place on the planet and even more entertaining when you're walking in it with a distracted Atlantean (Kaldur), a concerned female Martian (M'gann), a short detective (Robin/Dick), a ginger speedster (Wally) and a grumpy Superboy

(Uh…Damn, we really should come up with a civilian name for Superboy, shouldn't we? Maybe I'll mention it to Dad when I get back. I mean it doesn't seem very fair especially since everyone else has a name.).

Just so you know. I'm the short white-haired, yellow-eyed freak stuck behind Robin and getting her heels stepped on by Wally.

It's quite strange. With my echolocation and night vision abilities, all I can see is myself and the team and the various vermin down here in the sewer. Yet somehow I can't help but feel as if I'm being watched by-

Oh god, what is that?! Argh! A spider! Step quickly! Step quickly! Whew. Safe.

"Sorry Wally" I apologise.

"It's ok babe" Wally gives me a very shaky thumbs up.

He's the only one on the team who understands my fear of spiders, only because he and I had an (if you look at it in hindsight) hilarious bonding time to try to kill a tiny spider the last time we hung out at the manor. In the end, it was Alfred who came and sprayed the spider with bug spray whilst Dick stood in the doorway and laughed. Ah, Alfred; the true hero of Wayne Manor.

Yeah, I know I'm a superhero sidekick who's helped take down deadly foes and psychotic nut jobs and yet I get spooked by a little spider.

Well, that's not my fault. You would be scared too if you – no, I won't tell you now. M'gann is probably going to set up the mind link soon and well…let's just say there are certain things I don't want to tell my friends about now.

Besides my week has been quite shit already and I don't need them worrying any more about me than they already do. Which brings me to tell you how I'm stuck down here in the Gotham Sewers when I could be at home sleeping. Well, it all started a week ago…

* * *

_**The Batcave, August** _ **19** _**, 16:49 EDT, 2010** _

Swift leant against the wall holding a box of Japanese takeaway in one hand whilst fishing for rice with a pair of chopsticks in the other.

Robin sat on the floor against the opposite her twirling a sushi in his chopsticks. He eyed the filling oddly before shrugging and stuffing it in his mouth.

Batman sat in his large chair in front of the Bat-Computer. He'd already finished eating and was perusing the screens, pouring over security profiles and blueprints of a large rocket.

Swift swallowed a mushroom. "So, let's recap the case. A janitor, security guard and engineer are all reported dead on August 17th at Cape Canaveral?"

Batman nodded continuing to look at the screens.

"All three killed with a poison dart" Robin continued through a mouthful. Batman nodded again.

"The victims were all shot an hour apart in the same building on the same night, the first murder occurring at 11:00 pm." Swift continued.

Another nod from the Dark Knight.

"Postmortem autopsy suggests that the substance was a fast-acting neurotoxin derived from an ancient Chinese herb, which we know is specially harvested and used by the League of Shadows," Robin said only to suddenly frown.

"But hang on I don't get it!" He looked at Swift his right cheek bulging with the piece of sushi. "The Engineer was only involved in working on the test launches and not the real deal. Why would they need to use his Id? Wouldn't they want to get someone that was working on the real deal?"

"We already covered this Dick. They didn't need to." Swift rolled her eyes as she shovelled another helping of teriyaki chicken into her mouth "Even if he was only working on the test launches, he still had enough clearance to get past most of the security. Especially since those government networks are quite pathetic anyways. The thing is that that rocket is only going up there to help launch a satellite that will measure the ozone layer. So, the real question is what do the League of Shadows want with that rocket?"

"The League of Shadows wants to use it to hide something" Batman turned around in his seat to face the two of them and stood up just as Alfred came down the stairs.

"Come on you two. Alfred, we're going to Cape Canaveral" Batman nodded to the old butler who looked down on them all gravely.

"Very well then sir, shall you need me at the computer"

"Yes, thank you Alfred" Swift smiled up at him quickly tossing the takeaway box behind her back into the bin. Robin wasn't so fast, however.

The butler looked down on them all; raising his eyebrows. He was always a tad touchy about them eating takeaway food, more because of the health concerns than anything else.

"Sorry Alfie" Robin quickly finished his sushi and chucked it in the bin. "Got hungry after that patrol"

"I quite understand, young master. However, I think I speak for all of us if I were to say that you might want to improve your chopstick skills. You have spilt wasabi all over the front of your cape."

"What? Aw great!" Robin groaned looking down at the black shiny material which was smeared with green paste.

"Here you buffoon" Swift rolled her eyes as she tossed her partner a paper napkin. He really could be a messy eater sometimes.

"Hurry up you two" Batman called, from where he was already walking down a set of stairs towards the Batmobile.

"So, are you going to test it out today?" Robin whispered eagerly and Swift smirked.

"After we stop the Shadows. Then I'll do a test run when we get back from my balcony"

"Sweet! I can't wait to see if it works" Robin hissed as he dragged her to follow Batman's path to the Batmobile.

"I'm actually kinda nervous" Swift admitted tapping the back of her suit, where a small triangular black metal pack was positioned comfortably.

"Nervous about what?" Batman quirked a brow at her as they approached the car.

"The league of shadows." Robin coughed quickly as his partner dashed into the back-passenger seats. "Ra's Al Ghul is not gonna be happy when we mess up his plans, this time"

"Hmph! When is he ever?" Batman snorted as he took the driver's seat, missing the way his two young partners shared a small conspiratorial wink.

They hadn't told their mentor about their little side project. They'd been working on it slowly for the past year behind his back. They were hoping to surprise him, once this final prototype had been tested properly.

Swift could only hope she didn't break her neck in the process.

* * *

**_Cape Canaveral, August 19, 20:48 EDT, 2010_ **

_Oh yeah, pick on me because I'm the smallest. Humph! Cowards!_

Swift grumbled in her head as she crawled out from a pile of bloodthirsty ninjas. She threw down a pellet of knock out gas into the centre of them and ran to join Robin as he punched a goon out of his way only to be attacked by three more.

Batman was somewhere behind and like Robin, he was taking down three other goons all at once. She looked around. More of the dark figures were running towards them.

Swift signalled to Robin from behind one of the goons. He gave a minute nod of the head and Swift ducked, vanishing out of sight. Suddenly one of the goons was jerked backwards. He yelled in terror as his arm twisted and he flew into one of his buddies. They crumpled to the ground.

The third guy looked around him, allowing Robin to deliver a heavy punch to his jaw. He fell to the side knocked out.

"Behind you" Robin muttered to Swift who had jumped out behind another goon and on instinct swung her leg around in a backwards roundhouse. She smirked as she felt the man's ribs crack as he flew off to the side and landed on top of the already high pile of knocked out Shadows.

They both high fived.

"I need to get to that rocket!" Batman called out to them as he delivered a powerful high kick to one of his attackers.

"Roger that" Swift nodded.

"We'll- run- interference!" Robin grinned as he somersaulted over a man's head. They both winced as they met back to back in the centre of a circle of goons.

"Shall we?" Robin smirked linking one of his elbows with hers. The goons decided to start rushing for them

"I believe we shall" Swift smiled and linked her other elbow. Using his strength, Robin pulled and lifted Swift's back above his own and spun around. Swift kicked wildly as they spun round and round the goons all falling in a neat circle around them. On the third revolution, Robin gasped.

"What?"

"Look!"

Swift unlinked her arms and dropped back on the ground turning to face the rocket. A large henchman had Batman by the throat and pressing him into the side of a van parked close by the launch bay. To make matters worse the timer on Robin's holo-computer was saying that they had less than ten minutes to stop the rocket from launching.

They both looked at each other.

"You get the rocket, I'll get the Batman" Robin said quickly already running towards the truck.

Swift ran towards the scaffolding and shot her grapple gun up. She sped upwards, enjoying the feel of the wind as it whipped through her hair before landing at the top. She ran towards the cone head of the rocket and found the hatchet.

A squirt of acid and a hiss of burning metal later and the conical top of the rocket opened.

"Yes! Gotcha you little piece of shit!" she hissed victoriously.

"Rather crude, but still a very accurate statement"

Swift froze as a large hand grabbed her wrist. She opened her mouth to protest.

The hand twisted her arm painfully and drew her back. Something cold and metallic pressed itself against her neck.

"Make one noise and I will not hesitate to silence you. Do you understand?"

She nodded gulping as the hand pulled her back into the shadows.

* * *

Batman smirked as he zipped up his line to the top of the scaffolding. The brunette woman below on the platform in a green and black suit glared up at him tracing him with her gun.

She couldn't kill him even if she wanted to.

" _Master Bruce, you better not be smiling_ " Alfred's voice came from the com in his ear. Batman's grin widened as he came up closer to the top.

He landed quickly and stepped out. The cap of the rocket was opened.

He rushed over and checked inside. A large disc of a clear crystal twinkled up at him in the light of the sunset.

" _A diamond lens sir?_ " Alfred inquired.

"Yes. Destroying it won't be…easy" He paused as something metallic tinkled onto the platform beside him. He caught it quickly before it rolled off. It was a small metal cylindrical can with a purple hexagonal "s" on the side. He looked around him thoroughly.

He was completely alone.

He stared around not even noticing Robin coming up beside him.

"Oh good! She got it open. Hey Swift! Swift!" Robin called out grinning.

Batman looked back, eyes narrowed. His mouth was the thinnest of lines and his fists were shaking. Robin's eyes widened his smile vanishing as his smugness was replaced by the stomach-dropping grip of dread.

"Dick, take the lens and go." Batman ordered quietly but the boy didn't move a muscle.

"Where is Chris?" Robin glared back at him.

"Robin, take the lens and go!"

"Like hell! Where is she?!"

"Robin! I'll find Swift. Take the lens! Find a way to destroy it! That's an order!"

"That won't be necessary" Came another voice.

The voice was that of a male, matured by age and wisdom yet cold and merciless. It was a voice they'd both heard many times and knew well…

Indeed, as they turned back around there he stood, covered in a regal green cloak that matched his sharp eyes, which were gazing in cold appraisement at them. With one arm he held the hands of the struggling girl behind her back whilst the other held a steely katana to her throat.

"Ra's Al Ghul" Robin growled about to jump forwards.

"No" a black-gloved arm blocked him. Robin was about to argue when he caught sight of Swift who caught his eye and nodded at Batman.

Reluctantly, Robin clenched his fist and took a step back.

Batman and Ra's were still staring each other down.

"Such contempt, and yet I've always admired you…believed you worthy of my legacy"

Batman's glare turned if possible even darker. Ra's sighed.

"Why must our encounters always so…adversarial?"

"Perhaps it's something to do with your disdain for human life" Swift mumbled under her breath. The blade pressed closer into her throat and she felt a small pinch.

"What do you want?" Batman narrowed his eyes, watching the minuscule trickle of blood as it slowly stained his sidekicks uniform.

A cold smile flitted across the older man's face.

"A compromise. By now you've surmised my satellite focuses the rays of the sun into a weapon…yet the key is its capacity for surgical strikes. Only large population centres will be targeted…to eliminate the human surplus. Rural and natural areas will be left untouched. I'll even spare Gotham…since you've developed such an unhealthy attachment to the place. All this is possible detective if only you'd join me-"

"Batman -Agh!" The grip on Swift's wrists was so tight it hurt.

"Perhaps you should let your guardian make his own decisions child!" Ra's suave façade faltered for a moment as he snarled down at her.

"Sorry, Ra's. But my answer remains the same. No" Batman glared, and Ra's face hardened.

"There's just no pleasing you, is there? Well, no matter" Ra's shifted the katanas position into a kill strike position. "You see detective, I've failed in the past by underestimating you. But not this time. I know you would rather die than watch one of your sidekicks-"

"This time…I'm not the one you underestimated" Batman's lips twitched just as Robin came out from within the rocket cone.

"Gotcha nose…Cone lens!"

Swift saw her chance. In an instant, Ra's Al Ghul had reeled back, clutching at his face where two thin sharp lines of blood, dribbled down the sides of his cheeks.

"No!" Ra's quickly drew his sword out as Swift ducked out from under him, one of her gloved hands stained with blood.

"Why do bad guys always say no?" Swift snorted as she stood a good couple of meters out of the swords reach.

"Dunno" Robin smirked twirling the lens between his fingers. "I mean they see us standing here with the thing and still they say no"

Ra's face was livid with rage as he took a solid step forward.

"You're in denial Ra's" Swift took a step back still maintaining her distance from the sword, even as she wobbled on the thin scaffolding.

"Ever thought of trying Re-nial instead." Robin grinned tossing the lens so that he caught it at the tips of his fingers.

"NO!" Ra's cried out. He ran forwards and Swift cried out as he crashed into her.

"SWIFT!" Batman and Robin's shouts barely registered as Swift and Ra's toppled off the side of the scaffolding.

Swift struggled; eyes closed to the horror of the Demon Head's wrath. Hair tore, nails clawed at her face and a roar of anger mixed with her own terrified screams. There was a nasty sting and a gasp as the black domino mask peeled off her face.

The air blew cold against her skin as Swift looked down on Ra's shocked face.

"You…You're a-" but his grip loosened, and gravity took charge. It sucked him down releasing Swift from his grip until like so many humans before him, his body crumpled against the Earth. Swift's eyes widened in horror as the ground came closer and closer. Her grappling hook was still at the top of where she had fallen from, and she was too far from the metal scaffolding to grab onto it.

_I must be crazy!_

Hot quick energy shot through her veins like a lightning bolt. It filled her every fibre, every blood vessel with a thrill as she reached to her sides and pressed an inbuilt pressure pad in her suit. She took a deep breath as she felt the metal rods and material membranes spread out between her arms and body.

_Oh god please work! Please work!_

The ground was close now she could see the green eyes of her dead opponent stare up at her blankly.

_I'm still moving too fast unless…_

She sucked in another deep breath and blew down hard.

* * *

"Let me go! I can still get her!"

Batman was holding a kicking and screaming Robin away from the edge of the scaffolding when something dark and purple swooshed up in front of them.

They both looked up as a loud whoop of joy filled the air before the figure quickly shot up to the top of the rocket.

" _Upon my word…_ " Their heard Alfred's gasp of shock in their coms.

Batman's jaw had dropped slightly, and Robin had stopped struggling, staring as if he'd just seen a green giraffe with purple spots cross his path.

He might as well have, for there now landing in a crouch on the cone of the rocket was Swift. On her back extending out of a small black metal pack was a pair of mechanical birdlike wings with a dark purple cloth like membrane spreading out between flexible but tough metal rods that were connected to her arms.

"Pretty cool huh?" Swift let out a breathless laugh, the thrill of her flight still coursing hotly through her veins. As she moved her arms to scratch her head sheepishly, the wings moved with them, making her look more like a tiny bird than ever.

Batman let out a deep relieved sigh and let go of Robin who was laughing with relief and jubilation as he dashed over to hug his partner.

"It worked! By god I can't believe it, it actually worked!"

"I KNOW RIGHT!" Swift giggled as she was spun around in the air "I mean, I had to use my super-breath to get some lift down there, but it actually works."

"Remind me to thank Lucius for getting us the memory-cloth" Robin high-fived his partner, only to stop as a shadow suddenly loomed over them.

"I see you two have been busy." Batman growled, but they could see the small proud smirk playing on the corners of his lips as he put a hand on his goddaughter's shoulder "How long have you been working on these?"

"We had the idea a year ago. Just took us a while to get the design right. We wanted to show you on your birthday after we ran a couple of tests on it." Swift sighed. Her godfather was taking this far better than she ever thought.

He even allowed himself a smirk as he said.

"We can work more on them back at the cave tonight. I might have information on the Batcomputer you can use to improve this prototype."

"Hey what happened to the Shadows?" Robin's voice cut through the happy celebration.

The three of them looked down at the base of the scaffolding. The brunette woman from before was glaring up at them all.

"She'll hate me for that" Batman watched as Ra's body was carried off back to a helicopter.

"You? But I'm the one that-"

"It wasn't your fault" Swift put a hand on her partner's shoulder.

" _Miss Christine is quite right Master Dick,_ " Alfred said in his most consoling voice. " _In any case, Miss Al Ghul's father's deaths tend to be temporary_ "

"None of which will matter to Talia," Batman muttered grimly.

"Which bothers you because?" Swift raised her eyebrows. Batman narrowed his eyes at her, annoyed at the knowing twinkle in those purple eyes.

Another beep sounded off in his ear.

" _Master Bruce, Master Dick, Miss Christine. I have an emergency alert from Red Tornado. A member of the family has passed_ "

They all looked at one another.

"Who is it?" Batman inquired.

" _A Mr Kent Nelson sir_ "

* * *

_**Gotham City, August 26** _ _**, 08:03 EDT, 2010** _

Christine stepped out of the back seat of the large black Bentley. She was wearing her Swift costume underneath her favourite purple hoody and jeans (minus the gloves). Her white hair was plaited back neatly but she had small bags under her eyes behind her rectangular glasses.

She waved at Alfred who smiled at her sleepiness before he pulled the car out of the spot to drive off and run an errand.

"Come on Chrissy hurry up!" Dick whined. He was wearing his usual dark jeans and a blue jacket over a light green hoody and was standing next to Bruce at the top of the stairs in front of the Wayne Foundation building.

"I don't see why we have to come and see this thing too" she yawned.

"Because I promised to take you both out for waffles afterwards" Bruce smiled patiently, dressed in a sharp black suit with a red tie as he waited. Christine pouted grumpily but allowed herself to be dragged up the front steps by Dick.

"They better be damn good waffles" she glared at Bruce who chuckled as he closed the door behind her.

She glowered at a nearby newsstand in the lobby which had many newspapers stacked ready for people to read. One stood out to her in a bold black headline "Is it too 'swift' to assume? Could this be the rise of another young superhero?"

Now Christine didn't usually care what the press wrote about, what the public and press referred to as the  _Triumphant Trio_. Any news of Batman was always bound to make a front-page headline and Robin was always a number one hit for all the adolescent girl's magazines with his charm as the Boy Wonder. But neither male hero had received more publicity or scrutiny in their hero lives as Swift had done in this past week.

As Swift, Christine tended to keep her existence shrouded in mystery. She rarely came out to speak to the press and stuck to the shadows, something which had always vexed the Gotham Gazette for four years. A very ironic twist of fate indeed, seeing as Christine owned the Gotham Gazette, as her birth-father and other Hallows forefathers had done before her.

Needless to say, it was a huge deal to the public to discover that one of Batman's most mysterious companions had superpowers and was beginning to stand out on her own.

Security footage of Swift's first flight with her new wings at the rocket launch at Cape Canaveral had been uploaded onto the internet. Barely hours after the leak had occurred; the tabloids went into absolute overdrive. The whole of Gotham city was abuzz with news and whispers of her white hair and strange super breath. Every news and gossip channel were reporting on the same topic, every person was discussing it in hushed whispers, heck even the villains and their goons had been heard muttering in their cells at Arkham Asylum.

The past few nights she'd gone with Bruce and Dick to answer the Bat-signal the policemen had all given her strange looks. Well, stranger looks than normal.

Even her teammates were worried but more so because of her almost getting squashed to her death by a powerful supervillain. But none of them was as worried as she was because they only knew a tiny percentage of what was troubling her.

She felt a comfortable weight settle on her shoulder and looked up into her adoptive father's face.

"It'll die down soon enough," he said under his breath.

"I hope so" she mumbled moodily. "Going viral really sucks"

Bruce chuckled as he squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Ah there you are Bruce!" a voice called. Christine watched as a man stepped towards them. He was African American with short black hair that was grey around the ears. He was wearing a grey business man suit. Bruce shook his hand, smiling.

"Oh, I see you've brought Dick and Christine with you. Hey, kids" the man smiled down at the two of them.

"Hey, Lucius" Dick grinned. Christine managed a small smile.

"Dad dragged you out of bed this morning?" Lucius smiled knowingly.

"Yeah" She nodded slowly but something beyond the older man's form caught her eye.

She peered around him to look at a large grey canister surrounded by security guards dressed in blue. Lucius followed her gaze and sighed.

"Oh yes, that…"

"So, what's this about Lucius?" Bruce was eyeing the canister with intrigue as he stepped towards it.

"Not sure, Bruce. This arrived, addressed to you. No return address."

Dick and Christine exchanged glances. The canister looked rather like an old urn.

"So, what do you think it is?" Christine whispered in Dick's ear as Bruce enquired about the canister's contents.

"Either it's a  _special_  present from one of our dear rogue  _friends_ , or the milkman started delivering in bulk"

Christine snorted just as the canister wobbled of its own accord. Everyone in the room froze. A crack appeared in its side.

_BANG!_

"RARRRRRRRRR!"

The gigantic creature burst from his confinement, splattering mud and clay everywhere.

"Come on!" Dick grabbed her by the arm and dragged her behind a marble pillar. Within the minute Christine tore off her ruined hoody, snapped her utility belt into place, put on her gloves and pulled her cowl and mouth mask up over her head.

Dick, who was still hopping around trying to get the left boot of his Robin ensemble on, stared at her incredulously.

"What?" Christine, now Swift, asked.

"You really are scary sometimes" he muttered strapping his utility belt. Swift rolled her eyes before going over and ruffling his dark hair back into Robin's customary mop.

"You two ready?" Batman's gravelly voice spoke in their coms.

"Ready boss" Swift and Robin both smirked.

The clay monster was advancing on Lucius who was looking wildly around in fear.

"Bruce, we need to get you and the kids out of here. Bruce?!"

The monster roared again, and his muddy appendage lashed out. Lucius screamed as he was knocked aside by a dark figure.

Swift glared hard at the monster taking out her folding fans. She swiped slicing through a muddy arm as it attacked her.

The monster roared and created a third arm from behind its neck to grab her.

She somersaulted over its head joining Batman and Robin as they both leapt down from the ceiling.

"You look a little dishevelled!" Robin smirked.

"Oh, shut up" but Swift smiled as she tapped her sides. At once her new mechanical wings shot out from the triangular pack on her back.

The clay monster shot three large sprays of mud. Swift used her super breath to launch herself up into the air, dodging the mud blasts. But Batman and Robin both got hit dead on. They crashed through the windows and onto the street.

Quickly and quietly Swift glided out into the street, perching herself onto a streetlamp to get a clear view of her surroundings.

People were darting hither and dither screaming in panic. Cars screeched and crashed into each other as the drivers tried to get out of the street. Parked cars and motorbikes crumpled under the sheer mass of muck.

"Whaaatt! Whaat diid sheeee dooo toooo meee?" The monster roared as it heaved itself out onto the pavement.

Batman and Robin seized their chance. They sprung to their feet and snapped out their tasers. The creature howled as the bolts of electricity shot through it but otherwise it was undamaged.

"Really thought he'd be a little less 'sheveled' after that" Robin muttered. He and Batman dodged a muddy fist but were hit by two other appendages which shot out of the monsters back. They smashed into a wall and crumpled.

The monster picked up an orange car above its head.

"OY! DIRT FACE! Eat this instead!"

Batman and Robin looked up as Swift glided down towards the monster. As she came close enough in range she sucked in a deep breath and blew out a powerful blast of wind. The mud monster raised what appeared to be arms to shield its face as its fluid form was blown back. Some of it flew out and smeared over other cars while most of it landed over a large open sewer cap.

"Howww?" it drawled as it began to sink through the open hole "Howww diid thissss haaapennnn?"

It screams issued from the blackness as the last of its head disappeared down the drain leaving behind a trail of thick mud.

Swift grunted as she finally landed, tripping over her heels rather clumsily as they dragged along the ground. Batman and Robin both stood up rushing over to where she had fallen.

"I'm good. Just need to learn how to park these things" she grunted, shaking out the mud from her wings as Robin helped her up to her feet. Satisfied with her wellbeing, Batman crouched down and began picking up a small sample of the mud in a test tube. The sounds of police and ambulance sirens could be heard from a couple of streets away.

A little time passed, and Batman felt his com go off in his ear.

" _Hey, Bruce._ " Batman's face darkened.

"Superman" he spoke quietly so that no one could hear.

" _I saw the news just now. I was going to check if you could make the JL meeting today, but I think it's safe to say that you'll not be able to make it_ "

"Obviously" Batman rolled his eyes behind his mask but paused as he caught a snippet of a civilian's conversation from close by. Words like "freak" and "weird" jumped out at him sharply.

" _Is something wrong?_ " Superman asked concernedly.

"Nothing of your concern" Batman sighed. Why did the Man of Steel have to be so emotionally perceptive?

" _How's Christine? Is she doing alright?_ "

"Why do you ask?" Batman growled defensively.

" _Well…_ " Superman sounded very nervous now " _I heard from the boss that G. Gordon Godfrey is going to do a piece on his next show about Swift. Of course, Lois and Jimmy and I don't believe a word of the stuff that guy says but, Bruce, he's going to flay her alive. Many people aren't too pleased that she has superpowers and Godfrey has been looking for an excuse to start up his fear mongering again_ "

"When is the show going to air?"

" _Prime Time tonight. Do you think you'll be able to come up with something by then?_ "

Batman rolled his eyes.

"Clark, I haven't seen anything quite like this monster before. I don't know how long it will take to track it. it might be days until I can hold a small press conference"

" _So, what will you do?_ "

Batman sighed. If only he had a … he stopped in his tracks. That was it!

"I'll assign the Team the mission if I cannot handle the monster by eight o clock. Batman out." he shut off his com marvelling at himself for not thinking of this idea sooner.

He looked around. People were standing around them outside a large perimeter. Most of them were bystanders, some of them the press. Many cameras were pointed or flashing in the direction not of him but of his two sidekicks as they tried to assist the nurses in the ambulances.

Swift reached forwards to help an injured driver up onto his feet, but he pulled away from her sharply.

"Get away from me, you-you freak!"

Swift stepped back quickly. A nurse rushed past her and took the injured driver away.

"Oh great" She winced as the cameras began flashing brighter than ever.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, August 26, 21:08 EDT, 2010** _

Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian and Kid Flash were in the main room prepared. They'd all heard the news from Red Tornado that Batman might assign them a new mission today.

Batman's face appeared on a holo-screen flanked by Swift and Robin.

" _Attention Team._ " Batman said sternly " _Take a Zeta Tube to Gotham city immediately and rendezvous with Robin and Swift at these new co-ordinates"_

"What is the mission?" Aqualad glanced at the others quickly.

"Shouldn't we wait for Artemis?" Kid asked the rest of them.

" _Don't wait. There's a creature loose in my city_ " Batman glowered at them all.

"If it's your city why are we hunting it?" Superboy folded his arms. Batman ignored him.

" _You are not to hunt it or engage it. Track it until I return with the solution_."

"Co-ordinate's received" Miss Martian nodded.

" _Robin and Swift will meet you there. Batman out._ "

The screen shut off before any of them had time to ask another question. They all went to the launch bay and strapped themselves into the Bioship.

As soon as they took off Miss Martian replayed Batman's orders on the holo-screen. She seemed to be smaller than ever as she sat slightly hunched next to Batman's stern and upright form.

"Wow, she really is upset" Miss Martian looked very worried.

"Yeah" Kid agreed as he watched the harbour fly beneath them. A holo-screen appeared in front of them with an envelope.

"Message from Robin" Kid said as he opened the folder to reveal two video files. He tapped on his keyboard and pulled up footage of the Triumphant Trio from that morning's news.

Aqualad was rather impressed but Miss Martian and Superboy were amazed. They even laughed fondly at how Swift had tripped over her feet merely moments after managing to successfully blow off the mud creature, the press had now labelled as Clayface. They were shocked and very angry when they heard the injured man call her a freak.

"That's so…so…She was only trying to-" Miss Martian's lip was twitching slightly as the next clip came on. It appeared to be a portion from a TV show. A man in a suit was talking in front of a picture of Swift with a caption "Swift to lie".

The man seemed quite adamant that the Justice League's had attempted to  _hide_  dangerous meta-human's like "swift" under the rug to continue manipulating the public. He continued to question them, asking what else the league was hiding and what other in his words,  **freaks**  were amongst their ranks even now. Could the Justice league even be trusted to tell the truth about its members? He then went to question Swift's mental stability, noting that most meta-humans from the Gotham area rarely were on the side of good. His whole rant went on for around twenty minutes much to the disgust of the young heroes.

Kid and Aqualad were both livid in their seats as the man finished his segment. Superboy slammed his fist down on his keyboard.

"How dare he! She saved that man's life! So, what if she has powers! At least she uses them to help people!" He'd never seen Swift look so hurt before, and already he hated it.

"That fool" Aqualad muttered, his eyes narrowed into dark and deadly slits as his nostrils flared. "While it is true that many of Gotham's homebred Meta-humans are dangerous individuals, it's extreme to label every one of them as evil. Especially someone like Swift."

"You said it Kal! OH, that-that-that-vile! Son of a-Ugh!" Kid Flash groaned as he bit down savagely into a nutrient bar, almost chewing his own tongue off in his anger.

"We're here" M'gann announced, unusually grim as she parked the Bioship on top of a building and set it to camouflage mode. While she didn't say anything on the topic, the boys could sense her seething even as she roughly set the Bioship to sleep.

They quietly made their way down the fire escape into a small alley they had been assigned to wait.

"Geez, where are they?" Kid muttered as he checked his watch. It had been ten minutes since they had landed and yet there was no sign of the two young birds.

"They said they were on their way" Aqualad looked around the skies for a sign.

"Yeah, but they were in the Bat plane and that pretty fast-holy crap what is that?" Kid Flash gasped.

Everyone put their hands over their mouths and noses as a grate nearby lifted. They almost gagged as Swift's head poked through.

"Come on it's not so bad once you get used to it."

"I'll take your word for it" Aqualad swallowed and felt his throat burn.

By Neptune's beard, that sewer really did smell foul!

* * *

_**Gotham City, August 27, 04:49 EDT, 2010** _

Swift continued following Robin keeping her eye on the spider that scuttled into a hole in the wall.

 _Wow, what a great day this has turned out to be._  She rolled her eyes.

 _You wanna talk about it?_  Came Kid's voice in her mind.

 _Oh, is the link up? Since when?_  Swift looked around wildly.

 _Don't worry. We didn't see much_  Miss Martian assured her kindly.

_Asides from your little flashback of you and KF freaking out over that tiny spider last year._

_Hey, that spider could have been poisonous!_

_Yeah right._

Dick smirked as Swift and Kid Flash both flushed scarlet.

 _Kid you hold him, and I'll punch_.

Swift cracked her knuckles.

_Aqualad are you linked? Kaldur?_

Swift heard Miss Martian call.

 _Kal? Kal is everything okay?_  she asked gently. She felt Aqualad's shock as he came back to them.

_What? Oh yes, the psychic link functions perfectly_

_A penny for your thought…or a free plane ticket perhaps?_  Swift raised her eyebrows.

 _My thoughts are not that far._  Aqualad smirked.  _But your consideration is kind._

Swift blushed and ducked her head shyly, missing the way Kid Flash and Robin both rolled their eyes at one another.

_Hey, do you guys smell that?_

Swift heard Superboy sniff the air.

 _It could be us._ She sniffed the air as well as she frowned over her shoulder. The sludgy water was rippling oddly.

"Guys-" she gulped only to yelp as a giant body of clay burst from the water spraying them all in the garbage, pungent water and his clay.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she heard Robin growl angrily as he was all but covered in slimy mud.

Swift couldn't blame him. It had taken him forever to get the mud out of his hair and body. Even she had trouble shifting a stain or two from her uniform after the incident that morning.

She struggled, vaguely aware that her of her teammates own predicaments. After a while, she managed to reach into her utility belt and pulled out her folding fan. She sliced through the muddy hand that held her and flew upwards dodging the many arms that tried to seize her. Clayface sank back into the water gurgling.

"Great. Dirty again. Talk about an unpleasant surprise." she snorted darkly.

"Like tangling with a rabid Ma'alefa'ak on Mars" Miss Martian agreed as she hovered beside her.

"Unpleasant sure…" Kid grimaced as he spat out a mouthful of sewer water "But kinda easy. That thing was a pushover. What the heck was Batman worried about?"

"What's a Malafak?" Superboy asked Robin and Aqualad who both shrugged.

Swift felt an unpleasant chilly breeze behind her. She turned around.

A giant mud fist smashed into her body pinning her against a wall. Clayface ploughed through them laughing horribly as they all groaned and rolled over in his sludgy wake.

"Ow," Superboy groaned from where he and Miss Martian had both been plastered to the wall.

" _Batman to the Team. Report Status. Have you encountered the creature?_ " Swift and Aqualad both heard Batman in their ears.

"Yes Batman, though the encounter was far from successful" Aqualad grimaced.

"More like shit!" Swift muttered trying to shake out her hair of all the muck.

"If that's Batman ask him where Artemis? And how come she gets away with skipping this so-fun sewer party?" Kid Flash looked like he was going to be sick as he wiped his goggles.

"She's on an undercover mission" Swift rolled her eyes as she stretched her back out "Let's get back to the ship. We need a new plan"

* * *

_**Gotham City, August 27, 05:38 EDT, 2010** _

"Whew, man! I need a shower" Kid Flash complained walking out of the temporary change room Miss Martian had set up at the back of the ship. "I mean what's the point of putting on a clean costume when I'm not…fresh?"

"Oh, Wally you're always fresh" Miss Martian smirked.

"At least you have a clean costume" Superboy mumbled trying to pick off the slime from in between his fingers.

"Yeah. And old back up! No stealth mode it stinks!" Kid sighed.

"We all stink" Swift folded her arms grumpily. Her other costumes were all in the wash back at the manor so she like Superboy was stuck looking and smelling, literally, like crap. Even the membranes of her new wings were filthy.

_Must find a way to clean these._

She sighed as she pressed a button and the wings zoomed back into the triangular metal pack on her back. She glared enviously at Robin who smirked her way. Unlike her, he was wearing a clean costume and had washed his hands and face.

"So, what about this creature?" he asked her.

"Batman just wanted us to track it" Swift shrugged.

"So why settle for that? Okay, sure it got the drop on us. But now we know it's tricks." Kid sounded enthusiastic.

"Yeah!" Robin grinned "We split up! Then whoever finds old Clayface"

"Radios the team-" Swift added nodding.

"And we converge to kick some clay butt!" Superboy also was grinning.

Miss Martian turned to Aqualad excitedly "What do you think Aqualad?"

"What?" Aqualad jumped a little as if he'd suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, yes…that's a good plan".

"Are you okay?" Swift frowned "you look-"

"I'm fine" Aqualad cut across her firmly as he stood up "Let's go"

* * *

Twenty minutes later they had all tracked the clay down to a storage facility belonging to Bichel co. They decided to split up, believing it would be faster and more efficient while moving through the rows and rows of crates and boxes.

_Just what is up with Kaldur today?_

Swift wondered as she quietly moved between the boxes.

The Atlantean boy had been very distracted this evening. She sighed as she remembered how short he'd been with her back on the bio-ship.

_Probably just personal issues, I should let him be until he decides to open up._

One part of her brain told her, the logical Swift part. Yet Christine Hallows couldn't help but think:

_You should ask him what's wrong. You're both friends, he should be able to confide in you._

She was glad the mental link was only partial as she shook out her head. No! what was she doing? She had a mission, she needed to keep her head screwed on straight.

She stopped as she heard something in the distance and quickly flattened herself beside a nearby crate.

 _Clayface? But no, it seems too light-footed._  She frowned as she chanced a peek around a corner.

She could see a shadow in the dim light.

_Kal or Superboy?_

She frowned as she squinted with her night vision.

But no, it wasn't either of her teammates. This person seemed taller and was dressed head to foot in black. He had a golden clawed gauntlet on one hand and a strange gold and black sword holstered on his back.

_Just who is this guy? Is he with Clayface? What's going-oh crap!_

She quickly hid behind the corner as the figure turned around to look.

It was wearing a strange black cloth cowl, with a strange set of golden goggles with winged accents and a small beak shaped bridge.

Heart hammering wildly in her chest, she waited for a couple of seconds, using her echolocation to listen as the strange figure walked away from her spot.

_What the hell was that?_

She frowned as she poked her head around the corner. But there was not a soul in sight. Just an empty path through crates and boxes.

" _Guys I found the creature! Rendezvous at my coordinates!_ "

Swift almost jumped out of her skin as she heard Superboy's voice suddenly spring to life in the com in her ear.

"Roger that" she shuddered, cursing herself as she looked down at her holo-computer.

"Damn it" she muttered. The coordinates were all pointing to a spot that was on the other side of the storage warehouse.

_Oh well, I suppose I better get a move on._

She had only been sneaking around five minutes when she heard Aqualad's voice behind her.

"Swift? Where are you going?"

"Oh, hey Aqualad. You got Superboy's message" Swift sighed in relief.

"Yeah, the monster's this way" He gave a pointed look to a corner a few meters away. Swift followed quickly and eagerly, only to find herself facing a dead end lined with shelves that reached all the way up to the ceiling.

"This can't be right" she muttered looking down at her holo-computer.

"Uh Aqualad, are you sure this is the-" she turned and gasped.

Aqualad was smiling but his mouth was filled with sharp, pointed teeth.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? Are you lost?" Clayface sneered, reaching out with a long clay arm. Swift dodged it quickly and slipped past him her eyes wide with panic only to around a corner and hit another dead end.

A dark shadow loomed over her from behind.

"It's okay. I can help you"

She screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there is episode 7. Basically follows some of the events from the official YJ comics.
> 
> So yeah, Swift can still fly in this fic, however, it's NOT a superpower. She flies with the aid of prototype mechanical wings and uses her super breath to generate lift. I figured she had enough superpowers to be going on with, plus it also ties in nicely with the next chapter of Young Injustice (the sequel). it's always been a headcanon of mine that Gothamites might actually be more prejudiced against meta-humans because many of the superpowered people in the news they'd see would be villains like Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Man-Bat etc.
> 
> Anyways if you guys enjoyed please keep reading and reviewing and let me know what you think.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	8. Downtime

_**Gotham City, August 27, 06:00 EDT, 2010** _

Their insides went cold as Swift's high pitch scream echoed around the storage house.

"Swift!" Robin and Kid Flash's voices called out from somewhere in the left side of the storage facility.

" _Oh no! What do we do? Where is Superboy? Do you think it got him too?_ " Miss Martian gasped in horror.

" _Miss Martian_!  _Kid Flash! Robin! Calm down!_ " Aqualad ordered though he too was cold to the bone in fear.

" _Like hell, I will! I'm going to find Swift!_ " they could feel the power of Robin's bat glare piercing through the telepathic link.

" _Dude, keep your head on. If Swift and Superboy were taken down by that thing, imagine what it could do to you_ " Kid hissed.

" _Kid is right we need to regroup_ " Aqualad sounded decisive.

" _Not until I find my partner!_ " Robin's voice shook slightly, though from rage or fear they could not tell.

" _Robin, I know you're worried_ " Miss Martian said as calmly as she could " _But imagine what Swift would say if you just went out on your own like that? What do you think she'd do?_ "

" _Dude I_ _ **know**_ _what she would do_ " Kid Flash sighed exasperatedly. "S _he'd probably whack us all on the back of our heads and say 'stop running around like a bunch of headless chicken's you idiots and use your brains' or whatever_."

There was a small silence.

" _You know I can almost hear her saying that just now_ " despite his dread, Aqualad chuckled. Miss Martian, Kid Flash gave weak laughs.

" _Alright I'll regroup with you guys_ " the Boy Wonder sighed heavily.

" _Good. We'll meet at Superboy's coordinates and use them to track the creature's path_.  _Aqualad out_ "

They turned off their coms.

* * *

Miss Martian flew around a corner. Swift was down, and they had no clue where Superboy was.

"Oh Superboy please be alright"

"Who's there" someone called

"Superboy?!" Miss Martian's face split into a broad smile as she turned a corner. There he stood dishevelled and muddy but grinning.

"Bad news gorgeous. He caught me off guard. Got away"

"You…you think I'm gorgeous?" she blushed.

"Well sure" Superboy shrugged. "Who wouldn't."

Miss Martian's vision went black.

* * *

Kid Flash was speeding down a corridor when he heard a small gasp.

He skidded to a halt and peered around a corner.

"Hey Miss M. You ok?"

She shook her head and sniffled.

"I'm just, so scared." She sniffed "Superboy's missing, Swift's down."

"Hey, its ok we'll find them" Kid Flash patted her shoulder consolingly. Miss Martian turned around and hugged him.

"Oh, Kid Flash" she sighed "If only everyone had someone like you around, they wouldn't be alone."

"Babe I knew you'd come around" He smirked closing his eyes and leaned in. A few moments of silence passed.

"Babe?"

A deep rumbling chuckle echoed around him.

* * *

"Swift!" Robin rushed to his partner's side. She was lying down on the ground face down. He turned her over, slapping her cheeks hard.

"Swift, come on girl look at me. Wake up"

But it was no use. She was lying too still.

"Come on dude."

"Yeah get a hold on yourself."

The Boy Wonder looked up, one no,  **two**  Kid Flashes were standing on either side of him.

"Ok" Robin narrowed his eyes. "Whichever one of you can tell me my middle name is the real Kid Flash," he said.

"That's easy," one Kid Flash said.

"Yeah for me," the other one said in a 'duh I told you so' sort of voice.

"Chump" the first one's arms turned into heavy blocks

"Sap" the second one's arms also transformed

"Sucker"

Something wrapped around his body. He looked down horrified as Swift's body melted around him into brown clay, enveloping him.

* * *

Aqualad reached the end of the row and caught sight of Robin.

"Any sign of Clayface?" he asked calmly.

"Clayface? Uh no not here" Robin shrugged.

"I see" Aqualad turned to look down the row he'd just been walking down "Any word from the rest of the team?"

"No, sorry~" Robin's voice sweetened slightly at the end. Aqualad whipped out his water bearer and transformed it into a mace. He swung it round as the Robin doppelganger turned back into a giant clay monster.

It smiled a wicked smile as a third arm suddenly grew out of its stomach area punching him out of the way.

Aqualad hit the wall behind with a loud crash. He struggled to lift his head and looked through the monster's legs. All five of his  ** _real_**  teammates were lying unconscious at its feet.

This was it. It was over for all of them.

Batman crashed through in a shower of broken glass flinging down his batarangs. They exploded on Clayface's arm. The mud monster roared and sent a massive fist slamming down. Batman reached into his utility belt and pulled out a taser. He fired it, and the cords lodged deep into the mass of mud.

He pulled the trigger. Bolts of electricity, violent and terrible shot along the cords. The monster let out a long-horrified scream as slowly it began to melt into a massive slimy puddle.

Aqualad stared in shock at the pool of muck inches away from his nose.

_Shwuip!_

He looked up. The cords were gone, and Batman was putting the taser back in his belt. Aqualad struggled to his hands and knees.

"Thank…" but the Batman shot him a glare and walked over to the team, pulling out a bottle of smelling salts which he opened under Swift's nose first. Aqualad shuddered. He was in huge trouble.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, August 27, 07:58 EDT 2010** _

Swift hobbled out of the Zeta tube and stepped into the caves main hall, covered in muck and smelling worse than a garbage tip. Batman stood there waiting patiently. She shot him a dirty look as if to say, 'don't you dare say a word'.

"I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you hit the showers and head home." He nodded to Swift who hissed in victory as she directed her path towards the corridor that led to the Team's living quarters.

"Head home? I am home" Superboy grumbled.

Robin stayed behind looking at Batman hopefully.

"Just Aqualad" Batman narrowed his eyes.

Robin looked calm as he joined the others, but Swift saw the dark glare he shot over his shoulder.

"Meet you out front" she muttered quietly. Robin only grunted as he sped past her. Swift sighed and combed her fingers through her hair. A large dollop of muck and slime now coated her fingers.

"Urgh! How am I ever going to get all this out?"

"I know" M'gann huffed. Superboy just said nothing and followed Robin and Kid Flash into the boy's showers.

Swift and M'gann entered the girls' team communal lockers and showers. All team members had their private baths attached to their bedrooms, but since these communal showers were closer to the zeta tubes, it was easier to access after a mission.

Christine grimaced as the stealth suit peeled off her body like a sticky second skin. Since her civilian form and hero form both looked somewhat different Batman had granted special permission for Christine not to have to wear her masks or shades around the team if no one spotted her with her standard reading glasses or her brown coloured contacts. As Robin's identity was too like his civilian id, he wasn't allowed to take off his shades.

M'gann was humming a catchy tune, like a TV jingle. It seemed very familiar to Swift, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember its name.

As they both got down to their boots, the door to the showers opened. No sooner had M'gann and Christine turned their heads to look, they heard a loud gagging sound.

"Hello to you too Artemis" Christine droned as she peeled off her mask.

Artemis's face was green as she spluttered for fresh air. Her blond hair was covered in white foam.

"Holy COW! What the hell is that?" she held the door open for her teammates as they stepped into the showers. One showerhead was running and letting off a decent amount of steam, so the room was quite lovely and toasty.

"You saw the news this morning, right?" M'gann sighed as she and Christine stepped under two other showerheads and turned the taps on hot.

"You mean when Swift, Robin and Batman took down that Clayface thing? Yeah, I saw that. You're getting better with those new wings" Artemis nose wrinkled as she caught sight of the slime dripping from her younger companion's hair.

"Thanks. That's honestly the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day." Christine grunted grumpily.

"Seriously?" M'gann frowned, and Christine rolled her eyes.

"Don't act all innocent, you guys saw Gordon Godfrey's spiel. You know what happened"

There was silence as the three girls scrubbed at their hair. Christine felt her muscles relax as she let the warm water wash over her.

"So how did it go undercover?" M'gann asked loudly over the humdrum of the water to lighten the situation.

"Dunno. I couldn't get much info," Artemis spoke lightly glancing sidelong at Christine. But the young bird was silent as she scrubbed hard at her hair.

The two older girls glanced worriedly at one another. Christine might have been a quiet, reserved girl, but she was never this grim nor moody.

They could only hope a little bit of time and space would be enough to help her relax and feel better.

* * *

_**?, August 27, 11:37 EDT 2010** _

The office space was dark and vast. Behind a desk in a grand chair, sat a masculine figure in a white suit. His face was cast in shadows, with only his pale, wrinkled, sharp-nailed hands illuminated in the dim beam of sunlight shining through a gap in the curtains.

"Are you sure? Are you completely certain?" his voice boomed as he addressed a shadow standing in the darkness just behind sunbeam.

They were average height wearing a plain black suit with a black cowl and wearing golden-winged goggles over their eyes.

"I'm positive sir. The girl is ready."

"Hmm, good. Good." The old man in the shadows leaned back in his chair as thundering footsteps suddenly sounded outside his door. "Ah, my son. I see you are as punctual as ever."

The shadow in the cowl turned, only to see another shadowy figure dressed in similar dark garb storm through the door. Unlike the first shadow, this one was taller and had ornate gold and black shoulder plates with an owl face embossed on the side. His angry voice radiated power as he turned on the first shadow and spat.

"Leave us! Now."

The first shadow quickly and silently left the room, leaving the old man and his masked son turned to face each other.

When the latter spoke, his every syllable was burning with barely suppressed rage.

"You promised" he rumbled, fists clenching by his sides "You promised me you wouldn't lay a finger on her-"

"A promise I made when I thought she was merely just a normal child" the old man shrugged, completely unphased by his son's temper "I did warn you not to get attached-"

_BAM!_

The old man barely moved as his son slammed a fist on his desk.

"You said if I joined you there would be no need to bring her into the fold-"

"Again, I made that promise under the assumption that she was a failed test subject like the others." The old man repeated himself calmly, though there was a dangerous icy edge to his voice that had not been there before.

"A mistake I intend to rectify before it is too late. Even without the powers, the girl had potential. Now that she has revealed herself, the rest of the elders are impatient to recruit her for their gain. Would you rather one of them try to manipulate her onto their side, or would you rather her come to her rightful place under  **our** protection?"

"Ours? Or  **yours**?" his son spat, and his father smirked.

"After all these years boy, you still don't trust your old man?"

"I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you. And I could throw you pretty far." said younger man snorted as he stepped back from the desk. "Fine, I'll go along with your orders. But if anyone's going to do the recruiting, it will be me."

"But of course." The old man smirked, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Even as he blinked, his son had vanished before his sight.

The old man's lips curled into a sneer.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, August 27, 12:46 EDT, 2010** _

Christine sighed stretching out her stiff back as she walked down the steps to the Mountain grotto in her purple swimsuit.

After a long and painful shower, in which she had scrubbed her body raw, she had tried to take a power nap on the Common Room couch. However, with her mood and all the thoughts flying around her head, sleep still eluded her, so she decided to go down to the grotto for a quiet swim.

All the others were either in their rooms sleeping, or somewhere else in the mountain, chilling and enjoying some quiet downtime.

_Ahh, it's so quiet down here._

She sighed, smiling as she set her towel by the edge of the large grotto pool, dipping her bare feet in the cold water.

It wasn't often she got to sit on her own like this when she was at the mountain. So often she hung out with the rest of the team, mainly Dick, seeing as the two of them were partners. It wasn't often that they all kept to themselves and had a quiet moment.

Carefully, trying not to disturb the waters too much, she slid into the pool, shivering as the water soaked her through.

_Now, let's see how long I can stay down there for._

She quickly reached out for a stopwatch she had placed on her towel and reset it to zero.

Once it was set she sucked in a deep breath and slid under the water completely.

She swam down to the bottom of the pool which was a good three meters from the surface and curled down to sit. Before her transformation, she had never swum this deep without a rebreather. Now she could hold her breath underwater for ten whole minutes before she even felt the need to resurface.

She revelled in the tranquil waters around her, shutting her eyes as she immersed herself in the dark blue watery world.

She didn't know why but it always felt so relaxing floating like this, curled up and weightless.

She opened her eyes a little, not heeding the sting of salt water as she saw something. It was only a flash, but it was enough to make her whole body constrict with shock.

Water was all around her, and everything was a blur of shapes and shadows. Instead of the grotto pool, she instead saw a transparent glass panel and what looked like a room beyond. The room was dark and lit by an eerie green light. Two people seemed to be standing in front of her, but it was nearly impossible to discern their features. They were talking, or at least she assumed they were talking, all she could hear were muffled mumbles through the water.

She reached out to touch the glass, but her hands when she reached out were pudgy and small.

She gasped, air escaping her in one huge bubble which was quickly replaced by a torrent of water streaming into her mouth.

She struggled hard, the image vanishing to be replaced by the empty deep blue, sandy bottom of the grotto pool.

_AIR!_

She thrashed about as she tried struggling upwards, already feeling her body burning as she tried to shut her mouth to the waters.

Then suddenly, something warm and hard grabbed her around the middle. She struggled wildly against it, not noticing the body the arm attached to the tall body until they both broke the surface.

"-ft are you alright? Swift?" a deep voice spoke in her ear.

"Kal" she spluttered, coughing and retching up water as the Atlantean dragged her floating on her back towards the edge of the pool.

Kaldur hovered behind her, his hands holding her up as she tried to get a secure grip on the edge. She was so exhausted and too busy trying to gasp down air that she could barely hold on.

"Are you alright?" he repeated himself once he was sure she was secure.

"yeah…yeah…" she panted tiredly. She could feel his warm hands grab around her waist and pull her up sharply.

"Thanks" she nodded as she consented to his silent request and used all her strength to hoist herself out of the water and back onto dry land.

Kaldur was quick to follow her, his face a mixture of anger and worry.

"What, in Neptune's name, were you doing down there?" he asked, he wrapped her towel around her shoulders. "You didn't even have a rebreather on hand."

"I was testing out my powers" Christine sighed as she reached out for her stopwatch which was lying a few feet away.

"eight and a half minutes. Damn. Didn't even get close to beating my record." she muttered, rolling her eyes as her friend narrowed his beside her.

"You would risk your life so that you could beat your record?"

"Hey, I was doing just fine on my own before you came along!" she snapped. It was bad enough her dad, and her partner was smothering her protectively at home. The last thing she wanted was for her team to get on her case too. Too bad Kaldur was persistent in his retort.

"Of course, because almost drowning yourself is just fine?" Kaldur he snorted sarcastically and wasn't disappointed when she leapt up to her feet, glowering at him.

"Oh my god. First dad and now you-argh! I don't need this lecture right now-"

"I was trying to help you-"

"Yeah well, I don't need your help-"

"-Apparently, you do because you nearly endangered your own life" Kaldur stood up only to startle as she rounded on him.

"Oh so now you're focused on our safety? Where was this Kaldur when we were facing down Clayface hmm?"

Kaldur's nostrils flared as he stormed up to her.

"Don't talk to me about focus. You've been distracted all week since Cape Canaveral!"

"Yeah well, it's kinda hard to get on with your job when you got the press shoving crap down your throat-"

"Agh! Why are you so stubborn to accept help when you need it?"

"Because I don't need it!"

"Woah-Woah-Woah! What the hell is going on here?" a new voice called out.

Both teens turned to see Wally standing at the top of the steps to the grotto, holding half a finished sandwich in his hands.

"Everything's fine! Wally, go back upstairs" Christine snapped.

"Sorry, no can do." The speedster swallowed a mouthful of sandwich "Besides its hometime for you and Bats is waiting at the Zeta Tubes."

"Great. Now Daddy Dearest is  _summoning_  me." Christine grumbled as she stomped her way up the stairs.

"Have a safe journey home" Kaldur called after her. However, she just ignored him as she walked out of sight.

Once she was out of earshot, Wally sped towards Kaldur, his expression softening as he caught sight of the hurt look on the Atlantean boy's face.

"Don't worry; she's a bit touchy like that with everyone when she's pissed."

"I was only trying to help." Kaldur folded his arms. "Is she always so stubborn?"

"Yeah. She's never good at accepting help from anyone. I mean she's way better now than what she used to be before…especially after…well…" Wally's voice trailed away as he caught himself in time.

"After what?" Kaldur frowned as the speedster sighed heavily.

"Well…I really can't say" Wally looked down at his toes nervously "It's not my secret to tell. I mean I know because I was there when it happened, and I saw her go through it but…"

Wally shook his head and patted Kaldur on the shoulder.

"Don't take it personally alright. Swift's upset about what happened yesterday. Just give her a couple of days, and she'll come around, alright?"

"I suppose" Kaldur mumbled though in his head he snorted.

_A couple of days…that might already be too late._

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, August 27, 20:04 EDT 2010** _

Gentle piano music wafted through the private gym at Wayne Manor, through a large stereo system. Christine was in the middle of her barre practice, doing her Plié's. Her white hair was tied up in a bun, and she wore her dark blue ballet leotard, pink dance tights and pale satin Pointe shoes.

As she descended into a demi-plié, she looked up at the rings set up on the opposite end of the room on which Dick was practising his flips. His white and blue gym gear was drenched in sweat as he scowled, and Christine was in no doubt why.

"Just Aqualad" he spat before flipping over twice. He detached himself from the rings and flipped onto a weight. He stumbled off doing a couple of flips and thudded into the wall.

Christine was about to rush over when she saw him punch the wall, leaving a small crater in it. She sighed as Dick plonked down on a bench.

"What are you sighing about?" he spat before taking a swig from his water bottle.

"What's wrong?" Christine turned so that she faced him and continued with Grand Plié's.

Dick groaned and slumped head forwards in his hands. "'What's wrong?' Chris, I messed up! I should've known better than to let us all separate!"

"Dick-"

"I can't believe I tried to spot the difference between two Wally's when they were both fakes."

"Dick listen to me it-"

"I mean come on! I should've known Clayface would try to sneak up on us! Why didn't I think it through, and now Bruce-"

"RICHARD!"

Dick's head jerked up. Christine had left the bars and was now in front of him, arms folded.

"Dick, no one is blaming you for anything." She sighed as she knelt down to pull his hands from his face "We  **all**  screwed up today. I was second in command and didn't step in when Kaldur was too distracted to make a proper decision. I was even stupid enough to trust the fake Kaldur and follow him into that trap, but we can't keep harping on like this. We all make mistakes, no matter who or…what we are"

Dick looked into the yellow eyes as she put her hands on his shoulders and shrugged.

"And hey, the only reason Dad wanted a private word with Kal, was so he could give him a lecture. Not because he's playing favourites."

"I suppose…" Dick sighed as she pulled him in for a hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes until they heard a tapping on the open door.

They both turned around to see Alfred standing in the doorway, his wrinkled face softened.

"Master Bruce wishes to see you."

Dick didn't get up. Christine rolled her eyes and after pulling on a warm hooded sweater, grabbed his hands and dragged him to the door.

The old butler smiled a twinkle in his dark eyes as his two younger charges made to follow him. He led them through several corridors until he opened a door that opened out onto the outdoor basketball court.

Bruce stood there dressed in a white muscle shirt, track pants and trainers. He bounced the orange basketball into Dick's surprised hands.

"What's this?"

"Training" Bruce smiled "Hand-eye co-ordination."

Dick's face split into a wide grin "One on one?"

"If you think you can handle it, besides I don't think your partners appropriately dressed for a match."

"Oh, I don't know Dad" Christine raised her eyebrows and smirked, "These blocks in my ballet shoes pack quite a punch when used correctly."

"She has got a pointe" Dick snickered glancing down at her shoes.

"Hmph, very clever Wonder Boy" Christine rolled her eyes "Anyways, Dad's right. I'll continue practising. Madame Fletcher would have my neck if she knew I didn't train, holidays or not. So, so long and adieu gentlemen enjoy your bout" Christine gave a mock curtsy and headed back down the length of the hall. She smiled softly as she heard the bounce of a ball and her partner's cackle of laughter.

The week had been long and stressful, but now she was home.

_Maybe I could take a stroll before practising. It is a beautiful night._

She smiled to herself as she walked away from the basketball court and into the Manor Gardens. The moon was full and bright tonight in the middle of a clear sky, and the air was fresh but not biting cold.

In short, it was a rare beautiful night by Gotham standards.

_Ah…that's better._

She sighed as she sat down by the side of a fountain, looking into its clear waters.

 _I should apologise to Kaldur._  Her smile fell into a grimace as she trailed a finger across the wet surface.  _He was only trying to help, and I was such a jerk about it._

She quickly reached into her pocket for her phone and dialled a number, only to promptly hang up as it went straight to voicemail.

_Oh god, what am I doing? Acting so desperate-He's probably asleep by now. Why am I rushing? I'll talk to him the next time I go back to the mountain._

She shook her head out as she put her phone back in her sweater pocket, groaning softly to herself as she slumped on the edge of the fountain.

_He must think I'm such a spoiled brat. Argh! Why am I so worried about this?!_

There was a rustle behind her.

Christine frowned as she looked over her shoulder behind the fountain where Alfred's beloved hedge sculptures stood silently like sentinels in the night.

And yet…

She squinted as she heard another rustle, followed by a couple of muffled footsteps.

"Nice try Dick, but I'm not falling for that trick again" She rolled her eyes and walked around the fountain.

However, there was nothing there. Nothing, except a large, dark shape barely discernable amidst the long shadows.

"Dad? Is that you?" she frowned squinting into the dark. But no it couldn't be Bruce, she could still hear him laughing as he played on the basketball court with Dick.

_It couldn't be Alfred. Alfie isn't that tall._

She reasoned as she took a timid step towards the shadow.

"Hello?! Is anyone out there?"

But even as she blinked, the figure's silhouette was gone.

"What on earth?" she frowned, scratching the back of her neck as she turned around, then suddenly her vision turned to black.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, August 27, 23:18 EDT, 2010** _

_She was floating in the water._

"Miss Christine? Miss Christine, can you hear me?"

_She was floating, and there was something transparent in front of her. A glass wall. The strange green room was just beyond it._

"Sir come quick!"

_A figure was standing in front of the glass, raising an aged pale hand to rest against the barrier between her and its owner._

"What is it, Alfred?"

"Master Bruce, I've tried waking her but…"

"Hey, Bruce, Al, What's going on?"

_He was wearing a suit over his body, and she could vaguely hear a muffled rumbling from him._

"Step back Dick. Christine! Christine, can you hear me?"

_She couldn't see his face even as he came into the light of her tank._

"Christine! Alfred have you used the smelling salts?"

"I've tried sir, but nothing has worked"

"Have you checked her vitals?"

"I have, she's breathing, and her heart rate is normal."

_A white owl mask covered it._

"Have you ever tried this?"

_As she reached a small pudgy hand towards the man, she caught sight of a glimmer of yellow peeking out from within the black eyeholes of the mask._

"Master Dick I don't think-"

_She couldn't explain why, but he felt horribly familiar-_

SPLASH!

Christine's eyes snapped open as she spluttered for breath. The faces of Alfred, Bruce and Dick were all peering down at her worriedly.

She was back in the gym, by the barre in her ballet gear but she was lying down on the floor. She looked up at the speaker system. It had reached the end of the CD and was waiting to be shut off. Her face and hair were wet, and her mind was spinning.

"Where…Where am I?"

"Err…in the gym…in the Manor?" Dick exchanged a worried look with his mentor.

"Think back. What do you remember?" Bruce's strong hands gently pulled her up into a sitting position.

"I…I…" Christine felt clammy, her heart racing as if she'd just run a mile. She felt Bruce rub her back in soothing circles and gulped down a couple of deep breaths.

"I…was practising on the barre. Dick was upset about something, so I talked to him. Then Alfred came, and Dick joined you in a game of basketball. I went to the garden for some fresh air and…"

"And?" Dick looked slightly pale, but he put down the empty water bottle in his hands and fetched her sweat towel from the barre. Rather than drying herself she just held it close like a lifeline.

"I-I don't know. I just…I thought I saw someone. Then they vanished. I turned to go back into the house and…and then everything went dark, and I blacked out."

"How did you black out." Bruce kept his grip secure.

"I don't know I-ow." she winced as she sat up, and rubbed the back of her head. She could feel a large lump beginning to rise as her godfather reached out to touch the spot with his hand.

"Concussion." Bruce murmured, voice grim as he turned her head to inspect the injury. It wasn't too bad, but it was still a rather large lump. Had he not been a detective he'd have assumed his young charge had merely slipped and hit her head. But that still wouldn't explain how he and Dick had found her back inside if she had taken the fall out in the gardens…"

He came back out of his thoughts as he heard Dick worriedly ask:

"And you're sure you didn't see anyone? Not even with your night vision?"

"No-no-no!" Christine pinched her nose in aggravation "I did see them, but I just couldn't make out who they were. Whoever they were, they were well hidden. All I saw was a shadow."

"Did you recognise the shape?" Bruce rumbled. "Did it look like someone you might have recognised?"

Christine bit her lip looking down at the floor. "I…did but I didn't…I mean At first, I thought it was one of you guys, but you were all at the court shooting hoops. But when I looked at him he felt so familiar like I thought I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't connect the dots."

She mused to herself as she watched her family's brows crinkle in small V's in unison. Dick was rubbing his temples with both eyes shut, Alfred was staring hard at a random spot on the ground and Bruce brought a black-gloved hand to his chin and scratched it.

Her eyes widened. "You're both in uniform?"

Bruce and Dick looked down at themselves. They were dressed in their Batman and Robin uniforms, but the cowl and mask were both off.

"We were going to go for patrol. When you didn't respond to our calls, we all searched around the house for you. Eventually, Alfred found you here."

"I tried to wake you, but no matter what I did you wouldn't respond" Alfred sighed. "Then Master Dick here thought to pour the contents of your water bottle on your face. I will admit I had my doubts, but it was rather effective."

"No kidding. I'll get changed," Christine made to stand up but stumbled. Bruce caught her before she could hit the ground again. Her legs were shaking so badly that he was holding most of her weight. Not that it made a difference to him. Christine was so light he could probably carry her in one arm above his head without breaking a sweat.

"Robin and I will go. You are going to stay here!"

"WHAT?"

"You heard me. You will stay here and rest."

"But what if that guy-" Christine bit her lip

"If you feel better, you can stay in the Batcave and man the coms, but that's it! No patrolling. And no leaving the building-"

"But Dad-"

"No buts. You are not patrolling until I get Leslie and someone from the League to perform a full check on you" Bruce pulled his cowl over his face and gave her a stern bat look.

"Full checkup?! But dad I'm fine-"

"Don't try it, Christine. I don't care if you had the physiology of a Kryptonian; you are still getting a full checkup."

"I said I'm fine! Geeze." Christine pushed herself away from him. Her legs were still shaky, but she was standing. "See. I can hold my own."

"I can see that but still-"

"Still what Dad? Still. WHAT?"

"You've unlocked a new set of superpowers of which you don't know how to control fully. You've been under severe physical stress for several days now. You've barely had any sleep, you almost drowned a few hours ago, someone's just infiltrated the Manor and knocked you out, and now you can barely keep yourself standing. Does that sound like the definition of someone in perfect health?" Batman growled, but this proved to piss her off even more.

"What about you. You stay up for days on end, without rest and, heck, without even food! Oh yes, the perfect epitome of health you are" she rolled her eyes.

"Do  **not**  take that tone of voice with me, young lady!" Batman barked. "You may be out of uniform but you're still under my roof. You are not, I repeat, NOT going on patrol tonight and I don't want to hear from Alfred that you've snuck out on your own either! It's not safe-"

"Not safe? Newsflash  **Batman** " She spat his name with as much venom as she could muster "It's not like I'm ten years old anymore. I can handle myself out there. I do it with the Team all the time. Or do you think I'm just another helpless little girl? You think I don't know that Gotham is a frigging stinking cesspit of lying, thieving, murderous psychopaths. You think I don't know that right now the entire world thinks I'm one of those  **freaks**!"

Batman's stared down at her for a moment taking in the sight of the shaking girl in front of him.

"Christine," Batman growled, albeit gently. Christine shook her head taking a step back.

"Christine wait-" he reached out to grab her shoulder, but she swatted it away.

"Just go! Just-just leave me alone", and she ran out of the room slamming the door behind her.

"Oh dear" Alfred sighed as they heard the loud, slightly strangled, sob echo some way down the empty hallway.

Dick glanced worriedly between the door and Batman as he reached up to the com in his cowl.

"Batman here…" Batman scowled a little "What is it, Superman? Hmm. I see. Are you sure? Here in Gotham? Fine, you can leave it to me. No, you don't need to come to the cave Clark. My city my rules.*sigh* fine I'll meet you in ten minutes. *sigh* you're already there? Fine, I'll come down now. Batman out. Dick, put your mask on."

"What does Superman want?" Dick asked cautiously because he didn't know if his mentor would explode or not. But Batman merely sighed.

"Francois Lemieux, Metropolis' most deadly hit man has escaped custody and is hiding out in Gotham."

"Oh, so are we going to track him down with Superman?"

"Yes," But Dick could tell that his heart was not in it. For one thing, Batman would've been more irate at the mention of Superman in his city.

"Can I…uh…" Dick scratched his head nervously and glanced at the door.

"You can go say goodbye to Christine."

"Yeah thanks, see you in five!" and in the blink of an eye he was out the door and zipping down the hall.

Batman and Alfred followed his lead, though they went down to the old piano rather than the staircase. Batman pressed some of the old slightly flat keys, and the wall swung forwards revealing a dimly lit dark staircase.

As they descended into the gloom of the cave, Batman couldn't help but notice his old butler was itching not to smirk.

"What?" he glowered, and Alfred allowed himself a chuckle.

"Oh Master Bruce, I'm surprised that can't you see it?"

"See what?"

"Who does the young mistress remind you of?" Alfred quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Who?" He grunted.

"Who else but you? If my memory serves me right, she's just as precocious, proud and stubborn as you were when you were her age. Except for the fact you were a boy and didn't have to deal with the burden of having superpowers." Alfred's smile grew. Batman sighed looking down at his gloved hands.

"How did you do it, Alfred?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you…Raise me? Let me go out and become what I am."

"It wasn't easy. I can assure you." Alfred's smile softened. "And it never gets easier. Despite how many self-help books that are out there sir, there is no real manual for parenthood. It is something each parent must figure out for themselves. But considering the present situation permit me to say this; you have been blessed with two wonderful children. For the past four to five years you have raised, loved and protected them as well as any father could even dream of. They have learnt to trust you, but now it is your turn to trust them, trust them to make the right decisions when they decide to step out into the world as their own people."

"I do trust them" Batman mumbled scowling at the knowing smile on Alfred's face. He hated it when Alfred gave one of those looks. It was the look of knowing something that he didn't know. And Batman hated not knowing more than he hated having so many superheroes in his city.

"You just don't want to let them go?" Alfred nodded. Batman didn't answer. Maybe it was because he knew it was the truth or because he could see the Batcave and the Superman sitting in  **his**  chair.

"I'll take my leave sir" Alfred bobbed his head and walked back up the stairs. As he reached halfway up Dick, now Robin as his mask was on, bounded past him hurriedly.

"Hi Al, bye Al!" his cry echoed in the dark passage

Alfred shook his head fondly and carefully walked back into the manor. He closed the passageway behind him and made his way towards the kitchens. After quickly brewing a cup of strong tea the old butler carefully placed it on a silver tray and came back to the staircase. He looked up the height of it.

"One child down, one more to go" he sighed as he made his way to the east wing where the family's private rooms were situated. He went to the third floor.

There were four rooms in total along the corridor that Alfred walked down; three on the left side; two bedrooms with a nursery in-between (though as there had been no baby in the house since Bruce was born it now served as storage); and one on the right, the master bedroom. The old butler made his way to one of the bedrooms on the left, the one with a brass flower for a doorknob.

There was a pause. "Come in" came a slightly hoarse voice from within.

Alfred pushed open the door quickly with one hand and entered.

The room was very different from the manors usual gothic aesthetic and very opposite of the Batcave's thick, oppressive atmosphere. It was light, airy and soothing. The walls were painted in Lavender blush white, and the ceiling in ivory, with a delicate crystal chandelier in the centre of the ceiling, painted with a soft floral design. There was a feminine maple desk and chair on one side flanked by matching bookshelves. Opposite this, an entertainment unit complete with ivory plush lounge sat cold and unused. Opposite where Alfred stood was a tall door that led to the balcony outside. Next, to the door, tall mullioned windows with a long-cushioned window seat let in the moonlight.

Back in the days of its first use, when it was frowned upon for a husband and wife to share a room with each other, it was the room of the Lady of the Manor. Now however it was just named the Lily room, so called because of the portrait of one of the Wayne ancestors, a rather stunning raven-haired beauty holding a bouquet of lilies, hanging above the large maple four-poster bed with gossamer curtains.

Alfred saw Christine at the window seat, dressed in a long nightgown. Despite her youth and lack of height, she struck an elegant, very poised figure as she sat side saddled, legs crossed at the ankles, head resting on her elbows and gazing out of the open window with bittersweet longing.

Alfred blinked. If he hadn't known any better, he'd have thought he'd stumbled upon Wendy gazing at the second star to the right and awaiting the arrival of Peter Pan at her window. Though if Christine was Wendy then the role of Peter would have to be filled by-He almost snorted into the tray.

Christine turned to him.

"Oh, hello Alfred" she quickly wiped at her eyes. Alfred noticed the tear tracks and placed the tray down beside her.

"Chamomile?" she sniffed.

He nodded.

"Thank you" she muttered taking it from the tray. She drank a sip and sighed.

"What do I do Alfred?" she looked back outside the window, from which she had a magnificent view of the Manor's extensive grounds which glimmered in the moonlight. "What do I do? I screwed up a mission; the press has convinced the world that I'm a dangerous freak and my Dad is convinced I'm a useless weakling."

Behind her back, he rolled his eyes. This child was almost worse than her mentor sometimes when it came to dealing with failure. But he composed himself as best he could.

"That is absolute nonsense" Alfred sniffed in the way that only an English gentleman could and when she turned around to face him he smiled, "Master Bruce thinks no such thing of you. Neither does young Master Dick or I. And even if you were a 'freak' or 'useless weakling' we would care no less about you. But given the current situation we are inclined to worry, your godfather most of all."

"I know" Christine groaned unceremoniously plonking her head on her elbow. "But come October I'll be fourteen. I may be short, but I'm not such a kid anymore."

"That may be." Alfred raised his eyebrows "But you're still only at the beginning of your own story, there are still so many chapters you have yet to fill in. Master Bruce knows this; he also knows that you are capable of many great things. Don't judge him too harshly. He's lost so much in his life, so much so that he's become paranoid about protecting the precious things he has gained."

"Paranoid? Well, that's one way of putting it" she mumbled. Alfred sighed.

"When you have a child of your own, whether it be adopted or biological, you will understand. Now if you will excuse me I believe your father might need me on the computers now, perhaps you would care to join me."

"I… I think I might read for a bit then go to bed but thank you Alfred" Christine finally smiled and took another sip at her tea. Alfred nodded and left the room.

Once the door was shut, Christine's whole body deflated, and she sighed.

"God what a night" she mumbled to herself as she watched the shadow of the batwing fly into the night, accompanied by a small blur of blue and red.

_Great, Super-douche is here too._

She huffed as she pulled herself away from the window and walked back to bed.

_Oh well, seeing as I've been benched. I suppose I better hit the hay early,_

She snorted to herself as she made her way over to her bed. However, despite her disdain for her situation, she had to admit she was slightly relieved. She was still exhausted and sore from her encounter with Clayface, and nearly drowning earlier hadn't helped. She was more than happy to settle down on her bed for the night.

Or at least she would've been happy, had she not almost put her head down on something papery laid out on top of her pillow.

"ACHOO!" she sneezed as something light and fluffy tickled under her nose.

"What the-" she spluttered as she sat up.

On her pillow, rumpled now from her head resting on it, was a small slip of paper and what looked like a large feather.

_That's odd, Alfred knows I don't use feather pillows on my bed, and since when does he leave notes?_

She picked up the note, her yellow eyes scanning the unique slanted cursive intently in the dark.

The handwriting, it was so familiar, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember where she'd seen it.

It only said five words.

**One day you will understand.**

"Understand what?" she wondered aloud as she picked up the large feather. It was not pillow stuffing, that was for sure. It was long and half white, half light brown, with one side decorated in dark stripes.

For some odd reason, the strange dark figure from the warehouse last night, the one with the golden mask, flashed across her mind's eye. Then there was the shadow in the gardens.

_But no…that's impossible. I was in uniform when that first shadow saw me. How could that-that thing possibly know who I am out of costume? Dad has always been so careful to make sure we keep out of harm's way._

As she pondered this, an owl hooted loudly outside her window as it flew silently through the air, and out into the night.

It was a few hours later when Batman, Robin landed the Batwing in the Batcave, Alfred dutifully awaiting them by the Bat-computer with two cups of steaming hot cocoa waiting for them. When he saw them exiting the car, they both looked rather tired.

"Did you catch them, sir?" Alfred asked. Robin, who looked dead on his feet, just nodded.

"Is Christine alright?" Batman asked limping as he headed up the steps.

"She went to sleep soon after you left sir."

"Are you sure?" Batman narrowed his eyes, but Alfred nodded.

"Quite sure sir and now young Master, a bath and then off to bed with you" he frowned at Robin who groaned like a member of the undead and trudged up the stairs. Batman smirked as he pulled back the cowl.

"That goes for you too Master Bruce."

Bruce's smile faded. He scowled, and Alfred smiled oh so benignly as he ushered the grown man up the stairs.

Sometimes the Batman could be like a child sometimes.

* * *

_**Gotham City August 28, 00:56 EDT, 2010** _

Two figures stood atop a rooftop, tall and as dark as the night sky above. Both were wearing the same dark Kevlar suits and black cowls with golden owl masks, though the taller one wore more ornate golden shoulder plates over his gear while his companion's armour was plainer and duller, as was fitting of his lower rank.

It was this man that made to speak, his voice low and soft.

"You couldn't bring her in?"

"It wasn't the right time" his superior grunted as he crouched over a stone gargoyle to stare down into the street below.

"Your father won't be happy." His junior murmured and his elder snorted.

"When is he ever? Besides, I'm doing this for her, not him."

"I know." The younger man mumbled. "So am I, but there is only so much we can stall before he starts getting impatient and taking things into his claws."

"I'll think of something." The older man muttered, eyes still fixed down on the traffic.

"I hope so" the younger man sighed. "Before either your father or that hag unleash hell."

"It might already be too late for that" the older man muttered, now looking up towards the night sky.

It was such a beautiful night, yet like all things beautiful and pure in Gotham city, it wouldn't last long.

The older man sighed heavily.

This mission was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 3, 20:49 EDT 2010** _

Christine shuffled nervously as she walked into the main chamber of the Mountain in her full Swift suit, sans the cowl and mask. It had been the first time in a week since she'd been grounded by her mentor from fieldwork. So far all she'd been able to do was hang out with the team or remain under house arrest at the Manor.

In short, it wasn't a fun week.

Also, Kaldur had yet to return from Atlantis, so she'd not been able to contact him to apologise for their argument.

_I hope he doesn't take too long coming back._

She wondered vaguely if he was returning at all. From what she'd overheard of Batman talking with Black Canary, Kaldur seemed torn between returning home and staying with the team.

Christine hoped he was staying if only to straighten things out between them. She'd hate to think her last encounter with him would be such a foul one.

No, what was she thinking? Batman summoned her to the main hall for a private word. She needed to focus.

She gulped as she approached her godfather, who was typing out information on a holographic keyboard.

"Hi, dad. Uh, you called?" She mumbled, cursing herself for her timidity. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't talked alone with Bruce since their argument that night.

As if sensing her unease, Batman paused in his typing to face her fully.

"I did. I have a mission for the team, and since Aqualad is not here for his briefing, I am instead passing it onto you, his second in command."

"Oh…but I thought- I thought I was still grounded."

"You were." Batman scowled, "but with Kaldur away, this mission is too important to leave in the hands of your other teammates."

"But Robin-"

"Is not yet ready." Batman cut across her firmly. "He still has a way to go till he can effectively lead this team. So, until Aqualad returns  _you_  will be in charge."

"Oh, so now you think I'm capable of doing something?" She rolled her eyes, hands flying to her hips.

"When have I ever said you weren't?" Batman quirked an eye coolly, and she snorted.

He sighed heavily as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Christine, please understand." he murmured "I only want what's best for you. Ever since your father died-"

"He's not dead; he's MIA. Big difference" Christine growled, and Batman quickly backtracked.

"Before your father  _left_ , I promised him that I would look after you and make sure no harm would come to you. I intend to keep that promise, and sometimes that will require me to make some tough calls regarding your safety. But rest assured, it's not because I think in any way that you are incapable if anything it's the exact opposite."

She opened her mouth to argue but couldn't find any retort worth throwing back, so she quickly shut her mouth.

Content that she had no more to add, he turned back to the computer screens.

"Today at 23:00 hours you and your team will depart from Bialya to investigate a power surge The Watch Tower detected from these coordinates."

"That far in the desert?" Christine frowned at the coordinates which appeared to be situated in the middle of nowhere amidst a sea of sand on the map.

"Yes. We believe Queen Bee might be smuggling more weapons to aid in her radical expansion into the rest of the middle east. Your objective is to infiltrate the camp and discover what they are smuggling and if possible bring back a sample for the league to examine. You will be going dark this mission, so you must maintain radio silence at all times."

"I'll get Miss Martian to link us up with her telepathy" Christine nodded as she began tying her white hair in a bun to put under her cowl.

Batman nodded in approval as he asked.

"Good but be prepared to be separated. Queen Bee's militia oversee the operation, and as you know, it is made up of highly organised trained mercenaries. You'll need your wits about you if you want to keep your team together. How's your Bialyan?"

"You're seriously asking me this?" Swift rolled her yellow eyes as she pulled on the last of her mask over them.

"Don't give me lip." Batman narrowed his eyes _._ "If the officials discover you it is up to you as the most fluent speaker to tell the authorities that you are repairing a part of your jet so that you can make your way to Quraq. Tell them you are meeting me there for league business. Only use force if necessary."

"Understood Boss" she nodded just as the rest of her team dashed into the room, all dressed in their hero gear.

"Welcome back" Batman muttered to them, not looking up from his keyboard.

"I see someone got here early" Robin smirked at his partner smugly.

"Someone was  _summoned_  here early you mean" Swift snorted as Batman turned to all of them.

"Until Aqualad returns, Swift will be taking his place as team leader. As such she received the first briefing of your next assignment."

"Congrats on the promotion" Kid Flash grinned.

"It won't last long" Robin shrugged.

"Way to show your support Rob" Swift drawled.

"No, look" Miss Martian pointed to the Zeta-tube which had just sprung to life.

**_Recognized Aqualad B-0-3_ **

"Thank god" Swift sighed in relief as the tall, dark Atlantean boy stepped out of the whirring yellow lights. His face was determined, and he looked more focused as he approached Batman who asked him quietly.

"Have you made your decision?"

"The decision is made." Aqualad said firmly "I am here. One hundred per cent."

"Just in time for your next mission" Batman gestured to the younger man to join his team.

Aqualad smiled and nodded as he went over to join his friends all of whom were beaming at him. He looked at Swift as he stood beside her. She was smiling wide in relief, though she was quick to avoid his eye somewhat sheepishly as she caught sight of his gaze.

They stayed silent as they listened to Batman's briefing, which was short and to the point.

After some good solid ten minutes of going over mission plans and team strategies, the Dark Knight dismissed them.

"wait" Aqualad gently grabbed Swift's hand before she could dash off. "Sorry, could I have a word? Just the two of us."

"Uh…yeah sure" Swift gulped glancing sidelong at the others.

"I'll get the Bioship ready!" Miss Martian smiled knowingly, grabbing Artemis by the arm to drag her along as she eagerly floated away down a nearby corridor that led off to the garage.

"And I'll go to the kitchen. Gotta stock up on my energy bars. You two play nice now." A smirking Kid Flash sauntered off towards the direction of the kitchen, pointedly grabbing at Superboy and Robin, who was glancing suspiciously at his partner and his team leader.

Once the room cleared Aqualad let out a sigh of relief.

"Well that was-"

"Awkward" Swift finished.

They both chuckled, Swift, scratching the back of her head as she looked down at the ground and mumbled.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened down in the grotto. You were only trying to help, and I was such a jerk-"

"It's alright; I understand" Aqualad assured her "You were under immense pressure that day what with Clayface on the loose and Gordon Godfrey's rant. I am sorry I wasn't attentive to your state of mind when I tried forcing my help onto you."

"And neither was I with you." Swift put a hand on his arm "I heard Batman telling Aquaman about you being homesick and wanting to go back to Atlantis. I-I know we've not known each other that long but…uh…I want you to know that- what I'm saying this if you're feeling, well, not feeling too great you can always come and talk to me-and-and the team of course. What I mean to say is that we're your friends and we'll listen if you need someone to talk to."

_Real smooth Swift, real smooth._

She cursed herself, as she quickly pulled up her mouth mask to hide the pink flush that was spreading over her cheeks.

"Thank you. It means a lot to hear that from you." Aqualad coughed uncomfortably aware that Batman was still standing behind them typing at the keyboard.

"Well…I suppose we better get ready."

"Yeah…we should" Swift nodded, but before she could stop herself, she blurted out.

"Wait Kaldur! I'm glad you decided to stay."

_Oh crap, I've put my foot in it now._

She gulped as she saw Batman tilt his head towards them in the corner of her eye.

She had completely forgotten he was there. She could feel herself burn ten degrees hotter as Aqualad's face flushed slightly in surprise.

Then he suddenly smiled warmly.

"So am I. We make a good team. I-I mean, the team as a whole" He added as he also caught onto Batman's not so subtle eavesdropping "And obviously us two are good together as well…that is work-wise and as friends,"

"Yeah, right back at you" Swift cleared her throat. "And speaking of work, we should probably get to the Bioship before the others send out a search party."

"Indeed. I'll meet you in the garage, I've just got to drop off a few things in my room first" Aqualad smiled, and Swift smiled back.

"Of course. See you there."

She waved goodbye as he left through the hallway that led into the common room.

Once he was out of earshot, she heard someone snort derisively behind her.

" ** _We_** _make a good team?_ " Batman was smirking as he turned off the holo-computer.

"Don't you have a cave to go hang upside down in?" Swift rolled her eyes, feeling her cheeks burn hotter than ever under her mask. Her godfather merely chuckled softly under his breath as he walked over to the Zeta tubes and punched in co-ordinates.

"Remember to maintain radio silence. And good luck." He added the last bit, his smirk softening as he looked down on his protege.

"Right back at you Dad" Swift nodded as a yellow light filled the room and a computerised voice announced:

**_Recognized 0-2 Batman_ **

_Well, that was embarrassing._

Swift shook her head as her mentor disappeared in a whirl of yellow and white.

She turned back to the Mountain hall and sighed.

It was time to get her head in the game for her new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, as you can probably see Kaldur/Christine (or AquaSwift) is the new official pairing. When I was re-reading the first version of my fic I realized there had been a few moments where Christine and Kaldur's relationship could've blossomed and taken off. I also had fun with exploring Christine's stubborn sense of pride. She didn't like Kaldur rescuing her because she's still trying to prove herself strong enough to handle things on her own.
> 
> Anyways review if you enjoyed and I hope to see you guys next time with the next chapter.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	9. Bereft

**_Bialyian Desert, September 4,? EDT 2010_ **

A girl in a black bodysuit and a purple mask turned over. It was warm, and she was sweating profusely. She felt something prodding her.

"Dick, cut it out," she mumbled keeping her eyes shut. Another prod.

"Dick!" She whined only to receive another hard jab in the arm.

"OW! What the-" She sat bolt upright so fast that whatever that had been poking at her flew off amidst a cloud of feathers. Wait a moment…feathers?

Swift looked up. An ugly bird with a bald head and slightly matted dark feathers had perched on the remains of a dead tree, its shoulders hunched and clipping its beak. The vulture glared down at her with suspicious eyes. It had thought that she was another easy meal lying around on the ground. Well, it could keep thinking.

She glared back as it flapped upwards into the air. Following its progress, she noticed that she was sitting in the shadows of a tall rock. She looked around her. Apart from the rocks and herself, there was nothing but a sea of golden dunes.

A strong gust of hot wind blew around her, and she noticed for the first time that her hair was loose. Why would her hair be loose if she was Swift? Swift always kept her hair tied in a bun. Absentmindedly she reached up to brush the lock away from her face, only to gasp as she saw white hair running through her fingers instead of chocolate brown.

_Oh my god! Omigod! What the hell?!_

She leapt to her feet, feeling around for her compact mirror. She winced as the glare of the sun bounced off the reflection and into her eye, which she saw to her horror was a strange yellow-orange, almost the same colour as the dunes around her as she peeled off her purple mask to look at them.

What had happened to her? Just, where was she? Why was her hair white? Why were her nails long and sharp? What was the deal with her eyes? How on earth did she now have better than 20/20 vision? And why did she feel as if she forgot something important?

She looked around again. There in the sand was her imprint and close by was another. Carefully she walked to crouch beside it.

"Dick" she muttered as she took in its size and shape. So, she'd been here with Dick, had she? As Swift and Robin? Had they been with Batman on a mission? If so how had they got separated from him? Was that why she was looking the way she did?

Something rumbled in the distance, something that sounded distinctly like the sound of an engine. Swift thought it would be the Bat-mobile but then thought again. No Batman would never take the Bat-mobile overseas like this, but he would've used the Bat Plane.

As she looked up again at the skies, Swift felt someone clamp a black-gloved hand over her mouth. Whoever it was, pulled her back into the shadows of the rock as an army truck with three soldiers inside rolled past quickly. As she struggled against her captor, she caught a glimpse of the bonnet of the car on which a black and yellow something was stamped across.

Swift recognised the flag at once. It was the flag of Bialya. But what was she doing in Bialya?

She struggled harder against the person who held her.

"Shh, keep quiet!" a voice hissed in her ear.

Swift stopped struggling.

"Dick?" she asked her voice muffled. The hand around her mouth slowly dropped as she turned her head to face her masked partner, who was looking agog at her as he got a good look at her up close.

"Chris? What the hell happened to you? Your hair-"

"Don't ask. I just woke up, and it was like this" Swift scowled, yet as she reached up to tap her ear something flashed over her mind's eye.

* * *

_Batman was standing in front of a holographic map of Bialya. He was looking stern as he addressed her alone in what seemed to be a sizeable cavernous hall._

_"Today at 23:00 hours you and your team will depart from Bialya to investigate a power surge The Watch Tower detected from these coordinates."_

_"That far in the desert?" Christine frowned at the coordinates which appeared to be situated in the middle of nowhere amidst a sea of sand on the map._

_"Yes. We believe Queen Bee might be smuggling more weapons to aid in her radical expansion into the rest of the middle east. Your objective is to infiltrate the camp and discover what they are smuggling and if possible bring back a sample for the league to examine. You will be going dark this mission, so you must maintain radio silence at all times"_

* * *

Swift gulped.

"What happened?" Robin eyed her suspiciously

"Robin…do you remember Batman telling us to maintain radio silence?"

"Yeah…speaking of that check this out" he pulled up his holo-computer and opened a file. The map of Bialya covered with small titbits of plans and data.

"What the hell! Where, the heck, did March go? Why the hell are we in Bialya in the first place?" Swift grabbed her partner's arm and shook it as if begging the hologram to change and be a joke. But it just stayed put, mocking her outrage with its blue sterility.

"Hey! Hey!" Robin jerked his arm out of her grip and massaged his wrist. "Bialya's just the tip of the iceberg. Get a load of this" he pulled out a large scrap of dark material and handed it to Swift.

She spread it out.

"Ok…What's Superman's symbol doing here?" she eyed the S shield which was red on black.

Robin shrugged.

"Dunno. I found it while you were still asleep. I've been trying to find other clues but none too helpful so far."

Swift groaned and slumped down to sit in the sand. "Great. Something to do with Superman is on the loose. It's September, but we don't remember anything past March. I look like a white-haired freak, AND we're stuck on Queen Bee's turf, illegally! What could go wrong?"

Robin sighed as he sat down beside her and took out a small biscuit from his belt, one of Alfred's treats.

"Here take this."

"What about you?"

"I already had one earlier." he shrugged, but he was avoiding her eye.

"Dick-"

"Trust me, Chris, you need it more than I do."

Swift sighed and took the biscuit from him. It gave a hard snap as she broke it into two uneven halves.

She handed him the larger half.

"No, give me the smaller one."

"Dick-"

"Just give it here."

"NO! You've used up more energy than I have. You take the bigger-"

"Oh god dammit Christine!" he snatched the smaller piece from her other hand.

"Dick-NO!" but he'd already stuffed the stolen piece in his mouth. He swallowed it quickly.

"Don't make me stuff yours in your mouth" he glared mulishly at her.

Swift blanched but took a tiny bite of her cookie. It had hardened a little because it had dried out in the desert heat but was otherwise delicious.

Robin smiled as she swallowed the last bite and looked back at the dunes. Swift looked around as well. Had it not been for their desperate situation she might have considered this place beautiful.

_God, it's hot._

She looked up at the rock above. If only she were wearing something less dark and clingy in this heat.

"Did you go up and get a good look?" She quirked an eyebrow at Robin.

"I tried. There are a couple of craters around. But they could be from the tanks firing off. Queen Bee's got swarms of her guys buzzing around."

Swift rolled her eyes. "You really couldn't resist the puns could you?"

"Hey! I'm not the power-hungry mind controlling woman who decided to name herself after an insect. BZZZZ BZZZ BZZZZZZZ" he held both his hands to his sides and began making buzzing sounds.

Swift laughed harder as something in her belt beeped.

They both stopped abruptly. Swift flipped out her holo-computer. A GPS beacon was flashing on and off in neon yellow on her map of Bialya. It seemed to be somewhere west, close to the border of Quraq.

"Is that us?" Robin asked

"I don't think so…Batman's dot is grey, my dot's purple, yours is light blue and the bat-plane's white, see?" She tapped her belt and Robin's, and instantly her purple dot and a blue dot appeared almost overlapping each other, a little way south of the yellow dot but slightly closer inland.

"So, if it's not Batman, you, me or the Bat-plane then what did we set a GPS on in Bialya?" Robin quirked an eyebrow

"Dunno. Let's find out."

Swift and Robin were walking over a dune, after dune coming closer to the yellow dot that Robin's holo-computer displayed.

* * *

It was night time, but the sky was clear, and the moon was bright enough to go by, and the air was considerably colder. They still had enough water between them, and each had one of Alfred's cookies in their pockets. They were trying to save them just in case they were still stuck in the desert tomorrow but so far so good. They talked here and there, trying to solve the mystery of the strange coloured dot.

"I wish I could remember why we put a GPS marker here" Robin muttered as they ran up the slope of another dune.

"And I wish I knew what the hell happened to my hair." Swift sighed wiping her brow.

"It's not that bad y'know" Robin rolled his eyes. "you can at least hide your eye behind contacts and if you wanted you could wear a wig."

"Yeah because that won't look conspicuous at all- Crap get down!" Swift hissed pulling him down so that they were crouched just below the crest. They peered over the top.

In the dip between the dunes was a large black box.

"Ah, I'm guessing that's why we have a GPS signal" Robin muttered shutting his holo-computer off. Quietly the two of them snuck over to it.

No sooner had they taken a step towards the box, four Bialyan troops popped out of the sand.

"[Her Majesty wants them alive]" one of them shouted in Bialyan as they rushed forwards, guns at the ready. Swift nodded at Robin, and he threw down a pellet from his belt.

Instantly dark smoke filled the area. Amidst the confusion, Swift slipped out of sight. Quietly she snuck behind two confused soldiers. They jumped in fright as their guns flew out of their hands, the magazines unloaded and vanishing into thin air. They cried out in terror as they got hit with something hard on hte backs of their heads.

Swift kept the magazines as she moved to the next set of soldiers, using them as weights to her hands when she aimed invisible strikes. The soldiers crumpled in confusion, not knowing who or what was hitting them.

The smoke was clearing enough, and the soldiers were beginning to regroup. Swift saw Robin as he flipped onto the head of a soldier using him as a base as he kicked two of his fellows out cold.

She ran over to him quickly as three troops lined up. "[Enough of this. Open fire!]" their leader yelled.

Robin flipped, dodging bullets left to right and centre. Swift reappeared as she aimed three exploding purple birdarangs at the soldier's feet just as something swooshed past them stealing their guns

"I'll hold that. Thanks!" a dark figure that was defiantly not a soldier stopped between two of the bewildered soldiers before super-speeding back into the fray.

"Kid!" Swift cried out happily, as Kid Flash, in a strange dark grey/black version of his uniform, zoomed past knocking out two men aiming their guns at her.

"Swift? What the hell happened to you?" the speedster's eyes widened in surprise as he zoomed past her.

"Long story, I'll tell you later" Swift grunted as she punched the lights out of a goon behind her.

Two troops attacking Robin flew away from him, pushed by an invisible force. They all looked up as a girl with green skin and red hair de-camouflaged over them in the air, but they didn't have time to stop and chat. Within a minute Swift and Robin were back to back fighting in the centre of five soldiers.

They managed to take out four of them, but the last one dropped his gun and ran for it. Swift was about to tag him with her birdarang when a green arrow flew, splitting into something like a rope which wrapped itself tightly around his legs. He tripped headfirst into the sand.

They all turned to face the crest of a dune where a girl dressed in green and bearing Green Arrow's symbol was poised to fire another arrow. When she saw that they had finished, she lowered it and stepped down towards them.

Robin ran to Kid Flash. "KF! Man, it's good to see a familiar face" they high fived.

"You said it!" Swift gave Kid a brief hug.

"So…Memory loss?" he asked as she let go.

"Six months!" Swift growled in frustration.

"Yeah, let's hogtie these creeps and compare notes" Robin nodded. They gathered most of the Bialyans and kept them under the shade of a dune nearby.

"So, let me get this straight, we're all a  **team**?" Swift asked the green-skinned girl who'd introduced herself as Miss Martian.

"The four of us and Superboy" Miss Martian nodded.

Robin and Swift exchanged glances as the former pulled out the black cloth with the red "S" shield.

"Then this must be his" Robin handed it over.

"Yes," Miss Martian smiled in relief "Did you see him?"

"I think we did" The green-clad, blonde archer girl, Artemis pointed between herself and Kid Flash, who scowled.

"Feral boy? Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He didn't know who we are." Artemis sighed before crying out "I don't know who we are!"

"Mind you I do remember Batman ordering radio silence and that we might have been tracking down some illegal weapons cache in the middle of the desert" Swift scratched her head.

"Well I don't know about the weapons cache but the radio silence, definitely, a Batman thing to do. So, our team must work for him!" Robin nodded vigorously.

"ok, how do you know we don't work for MY mentor" Kid smirked smugly tapping the lightning symbol on his chest. Instantly the dark grey and black of his uniform turned to its real yellow and red.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" he grinned continuing to poke at his insignia.

"We look ridiculous" Artemis snapped before rounding on Kid "Quit touching yourself!"

"That sounds so wrong" Robin snickered into Swift's ear as she shook her head.

"No there's something else, I don't know what it is, but I feel as if we're missing something important."

"Uh duh, we need our memories back!" Artemis scowled, and Swift rolled her eyes.

"I know that! I mean I feel as if there's someone else we haven't accounted for. Miss Martian, do we have any other teammates?"

"Hmm…hold on a second" Miss Martian frowned thoughtfully.

Suddenly their surroundings changed. The five teens all looked around. They seemed to be in an organic chamber with multifaceted screens.

"Whoa! Where the hell-" Swift began watching as she saw an image of Batman talking flash over one screen.

Miss Martian appeared in front of them, her voice echoing as she spoke

"I've brought you into my mind to share with you what I've remembered so far. But I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine."

"You want to pop through our private thoughts?" Artemis sounded quite affronted.

Miss Martian put her hands up in token of peace. "I have no wish to intrude, but-"

"You need to hack our minds-" Swift began

"to figure out what happened to us. Got it, go." Robin finished. They both smirked, and Kid Flash rolled his eyes.

"Typical" he muttered before smirking "My brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or severely underwhelm you" Swift snorted.

"Hey, why isn't anybody ever just whelmed?" Robin asked. Everyone else just shrugged.

Artemis was still looking very nervous, but Kid gave her hand a reassuring tight squeeze, and she sighed.

"Last six months only. And only what you need."

Miss Martian nodded before closing her eyes. Four blue glowing hands reached out from the top of her head, latching themselves onto her other teammates.

Swift saw Batman standing in front of a holo-screen again. The map was that of Bialya.

* * *

_"The Watch Tower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan desert. Spectral analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that sight. What landed there. Bialya is a rouge state ruled by Queen Bee and not a member of the Leagues UN charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times. You'll land in Quraq on Bialya's border. Two clicks from the hot zone."_

The scene changed. The team was standing amongst the dunes close to the spot where the grey box stood.

 _"All clear"_  Robin said pulling down a pair of binoculars.

Swift's memory then flashed to a position where she was crouched just behind the crest of a dune. She was in between Robin and Kid Flash looking down on a Bialyan military tent. They all glanced at each other before moving away.

 _"Set up here,"_  a boy, (Aqualad she remembered) said to her once she and the others had returned and she gave the order to Superboy who went back into the bioship and retrieved the large grey box. Superboy pressed a button, and different panels opened out of it.

He stood aside Robin got down to work.

 _"We'll be up and running in no time"_  he informed her and Kid Flash who was standing behind him.

 _"Jackpot!"_  Kid Flash smirked as he read the scans "the site's lousy with Zeta beam radiation."

 _"Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent"_  Swift reread the scans and pointed to the screens.

 _"I'll check it out on camouflage mode"_  Miss Martian suggested helpfully.

 _"Good idea. Go"_  Aqualad agreed

 _"Be careful."_  Superboy said shyly.

 _"And maintain telepathic contact"_  Aqualad stood beside Swift looking down at her holo-computer which had a GPS tracker on the tent. Swift looked in the direction of the tent. She felt slightly worried as the wind gave an unusual shift.

" _I will Aqualad_ " Miss Martian nodded.

* * *

"KALDUR!" Swift's yell snapped Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian and Robin all out of their trances.

"Aqualad!" they gasped in shock and alarm.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Robin blurted out worriedly.

"I don't know, that's the last thing that I-we remember" Miss Martian was wide-eyed.

Artemis looked down at hers and Kid Flash's connected hands, and the two jumped apart.

"We landed twenty-four hours ago." Kid avoided the smirks from the two birds opposite him "If Kaldur's been wandering in the desert that long then…that's not good for a guy with gills."

"Yeah but now we know to look for him" Swift trailed off as Robin pulled up his holo-computer.

"He's close, but he's not moving" he looked up at Swift's face which was paler than her hair.

But she was quick to cough and straighten herself up.

"Then we better get a move on before we all end up the same way. Come on."

They found Aqualad a couple of miles north of their previous position.

M'gann sat beside him as she created a mental link while Swift sat with his head in his lap. She was pouring a tiny bit of water onto his gills on his neck from one of the water pouches on her belt. It seemed to soothe him slightly, but he was still in severe physical distress.

Kaldur may have been able to breathe on land, but at the core of his biology, he was a water breather. When he wasn't in the water, he needed to continually absorb moisture from the air through his skin to keep his body temperature low enough to function correctly. But this desert air was dry and arid and without the water, in it, he could de-hydrate himself to death.

Thank god it was nighttime, and the air had cooled down, or else he might not have made it.

He was already very delirious and mumbling non stop under his breath in his unconscious state in rapid Atlantean.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition" M'gann frowned as Swift poured a trickle-down Kaldur's throat. He coughed slightly but swallowed, one of his eyes opening a crack.

He murmured something frantically under his breath, sighing as Swift reached down to rub his temples soothingly.

"Shh, Kal shh. It's okay; we got you." Swift looked up at M'gann with worry. "He's been out in the sun too long; he needs immediate re-hydration."

"Call the bioship" Robin nodded.

"It's out of range, but you can get there fast" She looked at Wally who started.

"He's too heavy" he sounded exhausted ", and I'm too low on fuel. Right now, I couldn't even carry her." he jerked a thumb at Artemis who scowled.

"Why not just levitate him back?"

"I can't. I have to find Superboy" M'gann stood up "Six months ago he didn't even exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him."

"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks. It's Aqualad that needs your help."

But M'gann clutched her head in pain.

"No! Superboy's in pain", and without further ado, she jumped off into the air.

"M'gann wait!" Artemis called.

"We still don't know what erased our memories! It could happen again!" Robin called.

But she was gone.

"Well, that's just perfect!" Wally cried out angrily kicking sand.

"Hey! I know you're out of juice but take a chill!" Swift snapped continuing to pour water over Kaldur's gills as the other's turned to her "Yes M'gann's gone. Deal with it. Even with our water pouches Robin and I can't keep him running for very long, he might not make it. What we need to do is get Kaldur back to the Bio-Ship pronto before we lose him for good."

"And since when did you start giving orders?" Wally sneered down at her. Robin glared at him about to intervene, but Swift stood up.

"Since I was the one Kaldur chose as second in command, so just you watch it zippy!" Her eyes only reached Wally's chin, but she delivered a glare so fierce that the older boy took a step back.

"Ok! OK!" Robin came between the two both hands up. "Let's all just calm down."

He paused as Kaldur began moaning again in Atlantean.

"Got the bio ship's coordinates," Robin said as he picked up one of Kaldur's arms.

"Let's go!" Swift barked. Wally grumbled but picked up the other arm as Artemis and Swift picked up Kaldur's legs.

Slowly they began dragging him over the dunes.

Kaldur kept groaning, sporadically calling for something in Atlantean.

"Do you know what he's saying?" Robin asked Swift who shook her head.

"Nope." She popped the P. Kid Flash looked surprised.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." She nodded. "My dad might've been a linguist, and yes I am multilingual, but that doesn't mean I know every language on the whole planet."

"Geeze I was just asking" Kid muttered under his breath as they hauled Aqualad over another tall dune. As they reached the crest, he murmured.

"Tula…Tula…"

"What's a Tula?" Wally cocked an eyebrow.

"I told you I don't know Atlantean" Swift huffed. Kaldur was starting to feel heavy. It didn't help when he suddenly opened his eyes and looked directly at her.

"Tóso ómorfo, poios eísai?"

"I'm no linguist myself, but methinks that was Greek" Robin smirked as he checked the translation that had appeared on his holo-computer.

"Oh, would you look at that, he's calling you beautiful" Kid Flash sniggered as he read the translation. As the two younger boys chuckled at thier friend, Kaldur spoke again, his eyes still looking up at Swift's white head of hair, illuminated in the moonlight above.

"Eíste ángelos?" there was a pause as the Atlantean suddenly lost consciousness again and hung limply in their grips.

"I don't think we need a translator for that one, do we  _Angel?_ " Artemis smirked as Swift's face burned bright red.

"I hate you guys." She muttered darkly only to cry out as she tripped on something hard in the sand.

"Whoa!" they all stumbled backwards, tumbling down the dune.

"Sorry" Swift mumbled as they all stood up. Kaldur groaned in pain.

"It's ok. What did you trip on?" Robin asked dusting the sand off his cape.

"Over there look!" Wally sped up the hill and pulled out a large piece of cloth, a couple of large wooden poles and some rope.

"Canvas?" Artemis felt the material.

"The Bialyan soldiers must've built a tent here earlier" Swift was examining the poles. They were quite long but strong.

"Talk about convenient" Robin grinned taking the two poles. He quickly measured them against Kaldur's body.

"Yep. This'll do." He snatched the ropes and cloth from Kid Flash and began tying it between the poles creating-

"Perfect"

They all grinned.

* * *

They'd almost reached the coordinates of the bioship when Swift heard it. She and Robin were now walking in front with Wally and Artemis pulling Kaldur on the makeshift stretcher.

They'd not talked for over an hour now; Swift was able to hear quite distinctly the sound of trucks in the distance. Now that she had most of her memories back, it was easy for her to utilize her new abilities once more, along with her new wings.

She glanced at Robin who nodded in understanding. He checked his holo map.

"Over there quick" they darted behind a large rock.

Three Bialyan trucks drove past.

"Mnm… Tula de la meta eta el Atlantis teba ose!" Kaldur squirmed.

"Shh Kaldur quiet now" Artemis gently stroked his forehead.

Swift tore her eyes away from her friend's suffering to peer over the rock with Robin. Rows of soldiers had gotten out of the trucks and scouting out the land. She checked her holo-computer.

"Damn and we're so close" She cursed.

"But we can't risk a fire fight with Aqualad K.O.'d like this" Robin looked back at Kaldur.

"It's not just him. I'm way out of juice" Poor Wally was now panting. He'd not eaten for hours and was now running on his muscle mass. Swift could've sworn he looked a lot thinner than earlier.

"And I'm almost out of arrows" Artemis showed them her quiver which had barely five arrows left.

She turned to look for Swift to say something, but neither bird was there.

Swift had quietly launched her mechanical wings with a puff of her superbreath, however , she could barely keep herself up in the air. She herself was running on an almost empty tank and every move she made was costing her a lot in energy. Eventually, she landed close to Robin and dropped off some of her birdarangs.

"Just take them" she huffed as she retracted the mechanical wings back into their pack.

Robin nodded before pressing his lips close to the blades. He let off a tiny cackle before dumping them in a line along the ground.

Once he was done he grabbed Swift by the hand and dragged her behind him. They came back just as Artemis was glaring at Wally.

"Hey, amnesia remember. Completely forgot how truly annoying you are."

"Oh, and like you're the goddess of congeniality" Wally snorted.

"Yeash! Get a room!" Robin rolled his eyes.

"Dude where were you two?" Wally was looking down at Swift who was kneeling beside Robin, looking just as knackered as he felt.

"Breaking radio silence," she puffed pressing a button in her utility belt.

They heard a loud beeping somewhere distant and then a multitude of Robin's slightly creepy cackles.

The troops footsteps died away as they went to investigate the noise. There were several loud bangs and suddenly the sky above was filled with dark smog.

"That's our queue move!" Robin grabbed Swift tugging her along behind as Artemis and Wally dragged Kaldur.

They met no one as they walked around the area of smoke. Robin sniffed.

"Swift you didn't by chance hand me the ones with the knock out gas did you?"

"Maybe, I don't know and I don't care." Swift shrugged. Her legs were dragging behind so badly. She tried to open up her mechanical wings and puff out a superbreath, only to start panting as she realized how out of breath she really was.

"Damn. Can't fly anymore" she muttered.

"It's ok" Robin grunted as they ran up one more dune. As they crossed the crest, they all sighed with relief.

"Thank the lord" Kid cried out laughing. They ran inside.

Immediately Swift sat down in the cargo bay fishing out from their extra supplies. Robin went to the helm and ordered the ship to create a small medical bed on which Artemis and Kid Flash dragged Aqualad onto it, the latter immediately going off to raid the food supplies.

"Aha! There you are, you beauty!" Swift shouted triumphantly pulling out a drip bag full of water. She dashed to Aqualad's side and inserted the drip into his arm. Within a few moments his breathing was slowing down, and his body temperature was back to normal.

"Well that's one thing down" She sighed as Robin ordered a seat to materialize itself next to Kaldur's makeshift bed.

She turned her back to them all as she unzipped the top of her suit.

"You wanna unzip here?" Artemis hissed anxiously looking at Kid Flash and Robin, only to find them too busy loosening the necks of their own uniforms.

"Save the lectures for the mountain honey, I need to let the girls breath."

Swift sighed with relief as her suit peeled off. Her sweat had made it stick painfully to her skin and it prickled on contact with the cool night air.

Kid Flash choked as he finally looked up at her and caught sight of the back strap of her black sports bra.

"What?" Swift snapped, scowling as she turned to face them. Despite her youth, her body was already starting to look more mature. They hadn't noticed it in her dark suit, but her curves were definitely more prominent, and her chest was already filling out her conservative sports bra.

"Oh, for heaven's sake Wally, it's just a bra. Get over it." she rolled her eyes at the speedster, who was trying, and miserably failing to keep his eyes from wandering down her body.

"WALLY!" she snapped along with Artemis as Wally's eyes lingered a little too long on her chest.

"Dude" Robin slapped his friend on the shoulder.

"What-oh-OH! Sorry, Swift!" Wally's cheeks turned scarlet as he coughed and quickly looked away from his half-dressed friend. "Sorry I just haven't seen you uh…like this in a while?"

"Rubbish, you've seen me in my bikini before" Swift snorted but Wally shook his head.

"Yeah but that was before you had… _those_!" he added pointing to her breasts only to groan as Artemis guffawed in laughter.

"Shh! Keep it down, would you" Robin hissed at the older archer "Kaldur's still sleeping

Wally was about to splutter when Swift just glared at him and he shut up which was just as well because at that moment Miss Martian's voice appeared in her head. She sounded excited.

_Hey everybody, I've got Superboy. He's back to normal and we're on our way._

Kaldur sat up at once, wide-eyed.

"Who are you?" he gasped looking between Swift and Artemis in fear as they tried to settle him back down onto his back "And how did you get inside my head?"

_Hello Megan, Aqualad's memories. I knew I forgot something._

_Aww man! Me too._ Wally complained loudly snapping his fingers

_I didn't get a souvenir for the mission_

_Don't worry. Got the souvenir thing covered_  M'gann sounded quite smug.

Swift looked out the front of the ship. She could see a dot high in the sky and something zooming towards them on the ground.

_What is that?_

Swift frowned.

 _It's some alien sphere. Superboy made friends with it_  M'gann explained.

 _Can I keep it?_ Superboy sounded excited.

_We'll take it back to the cave; see what Batman thinks, 'kay Superboy?_

_Ok._  She felt his happiness through the link and smiled. He was like a little child bringing home an obscure pet to adopt.

Wally tossed to her a protein bar from a crate. She chewed it savouring the chocolaty, nutty taste with satisfaction. In a few moments, everything would be back to normal.

"Who are you?" Kaldur's suspicious voice cut across her thoughts.

"A friend" she answered, smirking as she glanced over at the confused Atlantean boy who was now sitting up in bed and nursing what appeared to be a terrible headache.

"How much do you remember?"

"Not much. Just bits and pieces. You were there weren't you…you were carrying me…" He trailed off as he caught sight of her long white hair.

Swift felt her cheeks burn as hot as the Bialyan sun as she remembered that dazed way he had looked at her barely a few hours ago.

"Eíste ángelos" he had said.

Now that she thought about it, it had been the first time anyone had called her anything remotely related to beautiful since her transformation.

She was grateful for Kid Flash's indignant huff as he chomped on a protein bar.

"Just so you know, we helped carry you too."

"Yeah, though some of us bore more weight than others" Artemis quipped much to everyone's amusement.

"Incoming message from Batman" Robin steamrolled over Wally before he could retort. There was silence as a new voice suddenly joined them in the Bioship.

" _Batman to the team._ " Batman's face appeared on the front of them on a large monitor. He looked very angry. " _Where have you been? I've been calling you all for hours_ " he glared hard at Swift in particular as she sat half-dressed behind a still slightly disoriented Kaldur.

 _"Swift, put your top back on before you catch a chill"_  he snapped but Swift took off her mask and slumped in a heap onto her chair.

"My boobs have been pushed up to my ears, my underwear's about a mile up my butt and I'm sweating so badly that I'm killing all the flies that come near me. So no, Batman. I'm staying. Just. Like. This. Thank you"

She chewed on a second protein bar that was handed to her and glared defiantly at the screen. Swift saw a flash of blue and red behind him.

"Hello Superman, what are you doing skulking in the dark? That's my dad's job isn't it?" she heard Robin sniggering behind her at the jibe.

The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight both looked rather affronted at the young almost fourteen-year-old half-naked girl who was smirking in their faces.

"It's just League Business Swift, nothing too important" Superman shifted uncomfortably in his spot avoiding her eye. "By the way, the planet is doing an exclusive piece on your press conference, so I suggest you keep your top on for that one."

"Why? Don't you like what you see Man of Steel?" she snorted as she stood up and turned her back on both Justice Leaguers. Superman's face was redder than Robin's uniform as she bent over, bum facing towards the monitor to strip the waist and legs of her dark uniform off, leaving her only in her bra and underwear.

"Swift, that's not remotely what I-" Superman coughed, shaking out his head to avoid Batman's terrifying glare. The Dark Knight said nothing, yet his eyes clearly said:

_Leave now, or you die._

Superman gulped.

"I suppose I'll see you all when you get back. Goodbye!" they saw him fly out of the screen. Batman glared at them all.

"Swift put your clothes back on. The rest of you, rest up when you get to the cave. Then debrief tomorrow morning. No excuses" he flipped the screen off.

A moment's silence. Then Robin, Artemis and Wally all cracked up.

"I can't believe you!" Wally hiccupped slightly as he slumped in his seat. "You just flashed two of the world's greatest heroes."

"Hey, if Superman can't handle my ass then he's not worthy of being called the World's Greatest Hero" Swift folded her arms as she sat back down next to Kaldur's bed. The Atlantean was avoiding looking at her half-naked body, though he too could not suppress his small chuckle as he caught her eye briefly.

"I must admit, it is funny watching a being as powerful as Superman fly with his tail between his legs."

"And boy did he fly!" Artemis chortled in agreement, slumping into a chair close to the helm.

"He had to." Swift smirked, "Dad would've killed him otherwise."

Kaldur blinked at Swift in shock. "Batman is your father?"

"What? Oh, right memory loss. Yeah, he kind of is. Adoptive father." she added as she felt Robin come up behind her.

"Here" something fell from his hands and into her lap.

It was his black and yellow cape.

"Thanks" she nodded, pulling her partner's cape tight around to cover her up as a chilly wind announced the arrival of Miss Martian and Superboy as they came up the Bioship ramp.

"M'gann! Superboy" Swift giggled running up to hug Superboy who caught her in a big bear hug, completely unphased by her semi-nude form. But then again, he too was topless.

"Lucky bastard" Wally muttered moodily as he watched the super clone lifted the young bird several feet off the ground as he swung her around excitedly.

"Really, because I think it's kinda nice" Robin smiled softly as he watched the two of them start to roughhouse one another playfully. His partner rarely got along so easily with others, so it was nice to see her already so close with Superboy.

"I think there are some who might disagree" Artemis muttered under her breath, jerking her thumb quietly over her shoulder.

The three of them all glanced at Kaldur who was still sitting on his medical bed. M'gann was in front of him, using her telepathy to quickly restore his memories, yet even as she did this, they could see Kaldur sneaking a couple of small frowns in Swift's direction. He appeared to be quite calm, yet his eyes seemed to harden ever so slightly whenever Superboy got too close to her. Yet whenever they focused solely on her they softened tenderly.

Artemis, Robin and Kid Flash all rolled their eyes in unison.

This was going to be a long trip back to the Mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Episode 9 up and a go. I pretty much had started writing this one when i had just finished the previous chapter (hence why it's up so fast). Anyways, more AquaSwift is making its appearance. Since Atlantean is supposed to be a mix of ancient greek with other languages, i figured Kaldur would know how to speak some form of greek for his sorcery.
> 
> Anyways enough with me, you guys know the drill. keep reading and reviewing and faving to show your support.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	10. Targets

_**?, September 7 2010, 03:17 EDT** _

"I see you've failed your first attempt at recruiting her my son." an old man bathed in shadows sneered at the tall, dark figure with the gold and black owl faced cowl.

"It wasn't the time. I was merely setting the stage." A deep voice spoke behind the cowl "Christine Hallows is no ordinary girl. She has a code of morals, deeply ingrained in her by the Batman. If we are to bring her into the fold completely, we must carefully pluck apart the ties that bind her to the great detective."

"Hmm…I see. And what of the rest of the Justice League?" the old man pressed his pale claw-like fingers thoughtfully.

"It shouldn't be too difficult. From what my sources have been able to piece together, half the league has reservations about her transformation. Even Superman is uncomfortable with her presence, though that may be because he now knows of her connection to his clone."

"And what of this clone, and the rest of the little sidekicks? How do you suppose to alienate her from her new team?" the old man's eyes narrowed in the dark.

"That will probably be the more difficult task." The man in the cowl said softly. "She is growing closer with them every passing day. However, if my sources are to be believed, those fools calling themselves the Light, have infiltrated this new team and have a mole on the inside."

"Interesting." The old man's sneer grew wide "Do the Justice League know of this yet?"

"Not as far as we know."

"Hmm…I see…" The old man leaned back in his seat behind his desk, drumming his fingers along the arm of his ornate chair.

After a few minutes pause, he raised his hand and waved it dismissively.

"Leave me. I need to think about this valuable information. In the meanwhile, prepare yourself for today's operation. Remember, you must be as discreet as possible."

"Of course, father" the son in the cowl exited the room quietly and walked into the hall, where his junior officer in the more unadorned black stealth suit was waiting patiently.

"So?"

"I've bought us some time. I've convinced him to let me take things slowly."

"But we're still going ahead with today's plan?"

"it would seem so."

The younger man sighed heavily.

"I hope for her sake this plan of yours works."

"So do I."

* * *

**_Wayne Manor September 7 2010, 05:14 EDT_ **

Dick Grayson smirked as he crept into the Lily room, a wide grin spread over his face and his blue eyes shining with mischief. He stepped over to the large maple wood bed and pulled back the gossamer curtains. Silent like a ghost, he raised his hands over his head, poised to strike the girl tangled in the purple sheets.

"Don't even think about it" she smirked eyes still closed.

"Damn" Dick deflated flumping down onto the bed beside her. Christine turned around opening her eyes and grinned. Dick was wearing a black Batman T-shirt and yellow boxers.

"What's so funny" he quirked an eyebrow. Christine lifted the covers to reveal a black Batman T-shirt with tiny yellow shorts.

"Oh my god!" Dick laughed, his cackles growing louder as a pillow smashed into his face.

"HEY!"

Christine giggled only to squeak as Dick smashed her with her spare pillow.

"Alright that's it!" she launched herself, pillow at the ready at her laughing partner who held his up like a shield.

"AHG! BRUCE! ALFRED! HELP!"

A few moments later both Alfred and Bruce were at the door looking worried only to sigh heavily at the sight that greeted them.

Both young bird protégé's were slapping one another with the fluffy pillows raised to strike. Bruce, still in his plain white T-shirt and dark track pants chuckled under his breath as Alfred, already ready in his suit with a duster in his hand, shook his head sighing heavily.

Christine and Dick had both gone out for a long patrol last night. How they found the energy to get up for an early morning pillow fight was beyond the old butler.

The two grown men watched amusedly as the two teenagers play fought on the floor, abandoning the pillows and wrestling one another. Despite her smaller build, Christine was quick to pin her partner face down on the floor, just as someone appeared behind Bruce and Alfred in the doorway.

"What's going on?" the man yawned wide. He was tall; muscular and was wearing blue tartan print flannel pyjamas that matched his eyes which were covered by a mop of black hair.

"Sorry for the inconvenient wakeup Mr Kent." Alfred nodded at Clark, barely suppressing a smile as Dick tapped out of the fight.

"But it seems our younger charges are eager to start the day early today."

As the butler said this, Dick threw Christine off, only to jump on her back, locking his legs around her waist.

"Let go Dick" Christine grunted trying to roll off as Dick held onto her like a baby koala.

"I thought you said they went out late on patrol last night?" Clark muttered to Bruce.

"They did." The billionaire yawned wide "But it seems they still have the juice to burn."

"Ah, the energy of youth" Alfred rolled his eyes sardonically, as he cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem! Master Dick, Mistress Christine. Since you're both up and awake, perhaps you might like to exorcise some of your energy towards an early morning training session before breakfast."

"Ok!" Dick detached himself off Christine and hurried out of the room. Bruce closed the door behind him and began to walk down the hall.

"Training? At five in the morning?" Clark hissed as soon as everyone else was out of sight.

"You have a problem with that?" Bruce glared at him.

"They're kids. Shouldn't they, I don't know. Sleep in? Have some fun?"

"Oh, they have fun alright." Bruce opened the door to his room.

"Bruce, I fail to see how training first thing in the morning is fun."

"Then maybe you should come and see for yourself before judging" the door snapped in his face.

Clark's eyes widened in shock, but he made his way back to his guest room, which was located on the second floor. He quickly got dressed in some sporty clothes, a blue T-shirt, sweatpants and trainers. He sped off towards the indoor gym where Bruce was already waiting in a black muscle shirt and dark track pants.

He heard smaller footfalls as Dick and Christine ran down the hall towards them both in white sleeveless gymnastics tunics and black leggings. Both were barefoot. He looked down at Bruce's feet. He too was barefooted.

Clark saw the mat on the floor and quickly took off his shoes.

Bruce raised his eyebrows and opened the door.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

They were all sitting down in the kitchen for breakfast.

Alfred was cooking up a storm for Christine as she wrote in her crossword. Recently she seemed to have developed a healthy appetite and was eating just as much as Wally did every morning. She was still dressed in her training gear but with a pair of sandals and a white hoody on top. Dick was munching on his cereal for once not grinning but glancing up at the two adults opposite him. Bruce was sitting and reading various sheets of papers quite relaxed, but Clark was looking haggard as he shovelled a piece of poached egg into his mouth.

Thanks to his Kryptonian DNA he wasn't physically fatigued, but mentally he was exhausted. If there was one thing that Bruce could genuinely be better than him at it was strategy and manipulation, and he'd drilled both concepts into his younger partners' brains.

Despite the fact he knew they'd been trained by one of the League's most deadly members, Clark had expected it to be easy to spar against his colleague's kids without resorting to his powers. But it was not so.

Clark had only seen Hawkgirl and Hawkman work so seamlessly together, but they were a married couple. Even as kids the Bat's little birds were a force to be reckoned. Individually they were great, but together they were brilliant. They had the right chemistry, the right thinking and some of the best combo's that fit both their styles.

Needless to say, it made Bruce's day when whatever Clark had for an ego was crushed when Dick distracted Clark long enough for Christine to sneak behind him and sweep his legs out from under him.

"What is it?" Clark frowned as Bruce scowled at the papers.

"Your transcript drafts for Christine's press conference, they seem a bit…childish."

"Bruce, we're trying to appeal to the public. Swift may be your partner on the field, but she's also still a kid. They need to see that."

_Clark, call me a kid one more time I'll grab the bar of kryptonite from downstairs and shove it up your ass._

Christine scowled but refrained from speaking her mind. Clark was doing her a huge favour in helping organise and preparing her for the press conference this afternoon. He was even going to tutor her in public speaking for most of the morning until it was time to go. And she hated public speaking, just as much as she hated people treating her like a little kid.

"Pass it here" she gestured to Bruce who nodded. She took the paper and scanned it thoroughly.

She rolled her eyes.

"Clark I'm grateful for your help but really. This," she circled a large portion of the bottom paragraph. "Is making me sound like I'm saying, 'oh everyone is persecuting me, how sad'. The public hate me enough already, why add more fuel to the fire by making me the  **victim**?"

"The public don't all  _hate_  you." Bruce muttered as he bit into a slice of toast. "Just the ignorant idiots who gobble up Gordon Godfrey's anti-meta human crap."

"Language master Bruce" Alfred quirked a stern eyebrow at the Dark Knight who scowled but didn't retort.

"Bruce's potty mouth aside, I see your point" Clark took a swig of his morning coffee. "I get it. You don't want to look weak in front of Godfrey. But we can't just present you as proud and uptight either, because that would just rub people's backs up the wrong way."

"Give the boy scout a prize" Christine drained the last of her cup of tea. "Good grief, I don't even know why we're bothering to go through with this damn conference. There must be thousands of other people out there in the world that are secretly meta-humans. Heck it's not like I even asked to have these powers."

"Wait a moment that's it!" Dick cried out pointing at his partner. "There, what you said. That's the point you've gotta put across. You  **didn't** ask for these powers; it was just something you were born with. You might not have any control over why you have them, but you can-"

"-have control over what you can do over them" Christine finished. "Yeah I was thinking about that angle too, but no matter how hard I try to frame a response to practice it doesn't just…I don't know. It doesn't-"

"Feel genuine" Clark finished for her "That's because that sort of public declaration cannot be scripted."

"No…unless" Christine quickly reached for her crossword pencil. She worked in silence, writing over Clark's draft speech, occasionally glancing at Dick who was leaning over to watch.

The boy raised his eyebrows.

"Err are you sure about saying that Chris…oh…I see now. Ok."

"What?" Clark leaned over to see, but Christine hid the draft behind her arm and glared at him and Dick who immediately went back to devouring his cereal.

"Done" she handed it to Clark who took it and read.

She smirked as his eyebrows went higher and higher up towards his hairline.

Silently he handed it to Bruce who took it. Alfred leaned over his charge's shoulder to read it too.

"This idea could work." He nodded albeit with pride.

Christine beamed as she checked her now beeping phone.

"Oh sorry, I forgot. I've got to drop something off at Mt Justice today. I'll meet you guys at the Hall at five." She leaned over to kiss Bruce on the cheek.

"Remember to have your speech done by noon so you can practice before you go out." the Dark Knight smirked, ruffling her hair affectionately in return.

"Will do. See ya" She quickly dashed off out of the room.

"So, what exactly is she in a rush to drop off?" Clark frowned as the door swung shut behind the excitable young girl.

"Superboy and Miss Martian are starting school today," Dick said through a mouthful of cereal "Chris wanted to see them off and be there when they got back."

"And you're not going with them?" Bruce quirked a brow at his young partner who shrugged.

"I'm gonna walk with Wally to his school; I got some movies to give him. All legal and paid for" he added as both the Dark Knight and Man of Steel shot suspicious looks.

The latter was quick to look down at his mug of coffee as the former shot him a very pointed look.

"You know, you're going to have to acknowledge your clone's existence at some point. He's already proven himself capable of living amongst other humans without a problem."

"So far" Clark muttered ignoring the glare Dick sent his way as he finished the last of his cereal.

* * *

_**Mount Justice September 7 2010, 06:41 EDT** _

"I'm late, late, late. Whoa there!"

Christine crashed as she turned a corner and landed flat on her butt.

"Ow…" she groaned as a muscular dark arm with an eel tattoo pulled her up to her feet.

"Swift, I'm so sorry, are you alright" Kaldur patted her arms down checking for any injury.

"I'm fine Kaldur. Honest. I just didn't look where I was going" she huffed puffing a stray lock of hair away from her eyes.

"You came to see Superboy and M'gann off?" Kaldur smiled relieved as they began walking down the corridor.

"Yeah, I mean the first day of school for them both ever. It's kinda a big deal. I mean on my first day I barely spoke to anyone because I was scared." Christine grimaced at the memory.

"Yes, I can remember my first days as a student at the Atlantean Sorcerers Academy." Kaldur nodded as they rounded another corner.

"Was it fun?" Christine asked. She'd never heard much about Atlantis, but whatever Kaldur spoke about it, it sure sounded fantastic.

"Yes, it was…though there were a few…mishaps along the way" he trailed off as if recalling something that wasn't too pleasant. "I was a bit of a troublemaker back then."

"You?! Troublemaker? No way".

"Yes, it's true. Not a week went by in my first year where I didn't play a prank on my fellow pupils or my instructors" Kaldur blushed slightly embarrassed.

Christine gawked at him. Kaldur, their Kaldur, their goodie two shoes, polite, soft-spoken team leader had been a kid prankster?

"Ah, Swift, Aqualad you're both here." The two teens both looked down the hallway where Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and M'gann, who was still in her hero outfit, were all walking towards them.

M'gann grinned excitedly and waved at them both as they ran over.

"You ready?" Christine smiled.

"Um hmm. Just got to find Superboy and we'll be on our way."

"Where is he?" Christine looked around their group for the clone boy.

"In the grotto," Red Tornado said. "He was repairing his motorbike."

They nodded walking down a flight of stairs down into the cave's entrance. Superboy was further inside patting Sphere. The strange alien ball had grown quite attached to him like a dog to its master, always following him around.

Christine smiled as M'gann floated down the stairs towards him.

"Ready for school, I made our lunches" she held up two paper bags. Superboy smiled as he straightened up from where he was hunched over his bike.

"The first day of the scholastic season carries great cultural resonance; we wanted to wish you both well" Martian Manhunter smiled down at his niece's happy go lucky attitude

"Guess it's not a Kryptonian thing huh?" Superboy looked around their group slightly worried.

Swift gave him a soft smile and ran up to hug him. "Maybe not, but it is a team thing".

Superboy managed a small smile of his own and squeezed her by his side.

"You may wish to…change before you depart." Aqualad pointed to M'gann and Superboy's clothes, his smile oddly stiffer than before.

"Ah, I spent hours choosing this outfit" M'gann squealed as her organic clothes transformed into a pink camisole with matching skirt and red headband., white shirt and socks with black flats.

"What do you think? Can M'gann M'orrz pass for an Earth girl now?"

Christine quirked an eyebrow at the Martian girl; she was still green-skinned.

"uh…M'gann you might want to check in the mirror before…"

"Just kidding." M'gann giggled twirling as her skin turned Caucasian. "Meet Megan Morris" she curtsied.

"So, now that M'gann's covered what's your new name Superboy?" Christine asked curiously.

"My what?" Superboy blinked in confusion.

"You're name! You can't go by Superboy when you're out in public."

Martian Manhunter transformed into a tall African American man with a dark blue suit, red tie and high cheekbones. "I chose the name John Jones for myself and suggested John Smith for Red Tornado. You can be a John too-"

"Pass" Superboy frowned shoving a free hand in his pocket.

"Well…Connor's always been my favourite name" M'gann smiled shyly at Superboy who shrugged.

"Conner…hmm…not bad…it fits, but it's also common enough to fly under the radar" Christine bit her lip thinking.

"A last name will also be required" Kaldur nodded giving a pointed look at Martian Manhunter.

"Perhaps Kent?" Manhunter suggested calmly.

"Oh, in memory of Doctor Fate!" M'gann's eyes widened in realisation "The late Kent Nelson."

"Of course," Manhunter carefully exchanged a glance with Christine who just sighed and rolled her eyes quietly as Superboy, or rather now Conner Kent, gruffly accepted his name.

"Well,  _Conner Kent_  I suggest you change your shirt" M'gann light-heartedly giggled.

Conner looked at her surprised.

Christine detached herself from Conner and poked his chest playfully "M'gann's right, you don't wanna reveal your identity."

Conner huffed and stripped off his shirt revealing a fantastic rock-hard torso.

"Will this work?" he showed them the inside out T-shirt, which was just plain black.

"Works for me" the Martian girl mumbled dreamily.

Behind her, Christine sighed and shook her head. These two were so cute it was going to be the death of her. The young bird couldn't blame M'gann for drooling at the Super clone's fantastic body.

"Wait shouldn't I be Conner Nelson?" Conner frowned as he pulled the shirt, much to the disappointment of all females present.

"Nah, Kent sounds better." Christine smiled warmly before hugging M'gann goodbye

"Have fun and good luck".

"You too. We'll watch the conference when we get back." the Martian girl smiled warmly down at her surrogate sister.

"Please don't remind me about it" Christine groaned irritably "I still haven't figured out what I'm going to say."

Conner ruffled her hair "You're Batman's partner. What could go wrong?"

"You'd be surprised" Christine muttered under her breath only to add with an encouraging smile "Now off with you two, you don't wanna be late. You've got to register first before you go for your classes."

"Ah, they grow up so fast" Manhunter sighed as they watched the pair leave through the secret entrance.

"Now I know what my parents felt like sending when they sent me to the Academy" Kaldur sighed as the garage door closed behind their teammates.

"I know. I hope they do okay" Christine murmured, patting the sphere as it rolled up towards her. It beeped sadly as it nudged against her side.

"Don't worry, they'll be back soon" she stroked the sentient alien machine affectionately. "Wait. what time do they finish?"

"Four o'clock, that's if they decide to take a look at extra-curricular activities" Red Tornado spoke in his robotic voice. "Martian Manhunter, I am picking up a communications link from the watchtower. The original seven are calling a meeting with us."

"Then we shall go at once. Take care Aqualad and good luck to you Swift. I shall see you at the Hall of Justice this evening" Martian Manhunter nodded to the young heroes as he and Red Tornado both floated up into the air.

"Thanks, guys." Swift smiled, she and Aqualad both waving at the heroes who were quick to fly up and out of the garage.

Once they were alone, Christine allowed herself a heavy sigh.

"Great. I gotta get started on that damn speech."

"You haven't written it yet?" Kaldur frowned as they started to make their way up back to the main hall slowly.

"I've tried to. But everything I write it just…I don't know it comes up sounding so crap" Christine groaned. "And what the league has written for me sounds so forced. I feel like I'm spitting cardboard when I say it."

"Perhaps I could listen to what you have written and give feedback." Kaldur suggested helpfully "before I became Aqualad I had sometimes to help instruct the youngest pupils in their basic sorcery back at the Academy. I know how daunting it can be to speak to a crowd of strangers."

"Kid prankster turned teacher? Kaldur'ahm you really are a dark horse full of surprises" Christine giggled, blushing a little as said dark horse gave her a small smirk.

"You don't know the half of it."

"Speaking of stuff we don't know about. Did Roy ever catch that assassin in Taipei?" Christine frowned as she pulled up her WayneTech phone's news feed.

"How do you know about that?" Kaldur blinked in surprise.

"Roy called me last night for intel on the conference." Christine shrugged "he wanted information of all the officials that might be attending from both south and north Rhelasia."

"Yes, he contacted me too just before we bumped into each other" Kaldur muttered "He wanted information on a woman named Cheshire."

"You mean the same Cheshire that tried to kill Doctor Roquette?"

"How many Cheshire's do we know?" Kaldur quirked an eyebrow, and Christine rolled her eyes.

"You'd be surprised. Some secret organisations sometimes give multiple assassins the same name. Usually, it's to create confusion for their enemies, especially if the doppelgangers look almost identical. In that way, they could make it look like one person was responsible for multiple attacks in different places when in fact it was separate individuals. Also, if you capture a doppelganger you can never be sure which was the one that attacked you so that you might get false information from them."

"So in essence it's like hiding a tree in a forest" Kaldur nodded in understanding.

"Exactly. Albeit a very deadly forest," Christine sighed again running a hand through her long white hair "I just hope Roy is careful. Doctor Roquette was not that high a target on the Shadows list. Ra's has got dozens of scientists that are probably working on more dangerous inventions than the Fog as we speak. That peace conference though…that's huge."

"Indeed. I can't imagine the Demon head would be too happy about letting global events happen without his **consent**." Kaldur agreed grimly.

They were silent as they walked into the common room, both sighing as they settled themselves on the kitchen island.

"Now let's see this speech of yours," Kaldur coughed as she reached into her pocket and brought up a folded piece of paper.

It was time to get down to work.

* * *

_**Mount Justice September 7 2010, 13:40 EDT** _

"Roy, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Christine sighed as she and Aqualad stood in front of the communications link that had come up before them in the Main Hall of the Mountain.

They'd been distracted from practising Christine's speech when the red-haired archer had sent an emergency call their way.

Kaldur had put his high collared jacket to cover his hero gear as he prepped himself to join their friend in Taipei.

"I'm sure Swift" Roy sighed heavily on the other end "Kaldur, and I can handle Cheshire and Sportsmaster. Besides, you still gotta prep for that speech of yours."

"If I come with you I could still make it back in time." She grumbled under your breath. "and quite frankly I'd rather kick ass than face the press."

"And if the circumstances were different I wouldn't mind you tagging along to face the Shadows" Roy grunted "But I saw Gordon Godfrey's rant a few days ago. If something went wrong and you were there, he might spin the story to blame you somehow. Also, it seems the league of Shadows appears to be holding a grudge against you for that stunt at Cape Canaveral. I wouldn't put it past Ra's to try to kill you himself."

"So what I just sit back and play the damsel in distress in the mountain?" Christine pouted, much to both boy's amusement.

"Maybe there is a way you could help us without leaving the cave." Kaldur zipped up his jacket. "If you stay here you can man the coms, keep an eye out on our progress. That way if something happens you can contact for help."

"We won't need help with the two of us keeping watch over the conference." Roy growled on the other end and Christine rolled her eyes.

"You mean the three of us. And I suppose it shouldn't be too difficult to keep an eye on the conference if I send a drone through to keep watch."

She pulled out what appeared to be a small sphere from the pocket of her purple utility belt she kept around her waist. After clicking a couple of small buttons on it, four black bat wings suddenly shot out from the sides and began to spin around very fast.

"Meet the MicroBat." She typed a few commands on the holographic computer, and the drone began to zoom around Kaldur's head. "She's small, but she's got an inbuilt 3d camera and state of the art recording and streaming software. She can move via remote control with the holo-computer and is also has an inbuilt taser to defend herself from enemies. Watch."

Christine tapped a button on her holo-screen, and several sparks flew from two small sharp prongs that had emerged on the top of the bots head.

"Impressive." Kaldur looked at the small machine, awestruck.

"I'm guessing you've  _borrowed_  this gadget from the bat?" Roy drawled on his end of the line.

"Uh, duh! Where else am I gonna get something called a micro-bat?" Christine snorted as she deactivated the device, caught it and handed it to Kaldur.

"When you're in the conference hall, press this button here, and I'll connect on this end. Oh and please bring her back in one piece, she's the one prototype we've got that actually works."

"Will do." Kaldur shook his head and smirked as he walked over to the Zeta-Tube. Stealing from the Batman's own prototype technology? It would never cease to amaze him just how daring his young lieutenant could be.

"I'll activate the device and keep you in the loop should anything happen," he said as said lieutenant punched in his co-ordinates with a smile.

"You better. Or else I'll come through and get you two myself, speech or no speech."

Both Kaldur and Roy chuckled as the Cave computer suddenly announced.

_Recognized Aqualad B-0-3_

**"** Good luck you two!" Christine called as the yellow lights started to envelop the Atlantean.

Despite his attempt to steel himself for the job, Kaldur couldn't help but grin as the smiling girl vanished from sight and replaced by the view of a darkened warehouse.

"You look happy." Roy's dry voice spoke. Kaldur looked up and caught sight of the red archer, standing with his arms folded beside a tall stack of crates.

"I am eager to be out in the field after a while" Kaldur coughed, doing his best to avoid the knowing smirk of his friend.

"Right, sure." Roy rolled his eyes. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that you were hanging out with Swift?"

"Swift is a good friend. I enjoy her company" Kaldur raised his eyebrows coolly, his tone final and firm.

"If you say so" Roy shook his head amusedly as he unfolded his arms and nodded. "You have the drone?"

"Right here" Kaldur sighed digging into his pockets for the black sphere which he activated at once.

The four wings of the tiny sphere buzzed faintly in the background as it made to hover beside them both, a little red light glowing from the depths of the camera.

"Red Arrow to Swift. Swift do you copy" Roy, or rather Red Arrow called tapping the little drone only to wince as one of the taser prongs jabbed at his fingers.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Sorry, Red. She's still on threat level six." Christine's voice spoke into both young men's Bluetooth coms in their ears. "just give me a second to calibrate the controls, and we'll be set."

Red Arrow and Aqualad both waited a few moments as the drone bobbed up and down uncertainly in the air, before suddenly straightening out smoothly.

"There we go, all set."

"Good. Let's get a move on" Red Arrow nodded, smirking with satisfaction as he, Kaldur and the MicroBat swiftly made their way out the warehouse and into the streets of Rhealasia.

* * *

"Wow… I know government facilities don't usually have the best security, but this is just pathetic" Christine grunted sardonically as she watched the live feed from the micro-bat on a holographic screen in the cave's main hall.

As they had approached the conference centre in Taipei, she had temporarily disabled the micro-bat so Aqualad could sneak it by security in his pocket.

The fact that nobody even tried to stop him sneaking in behind the press with a drone flying over his shoulder was extremely laughable.

"Tell me about it. The guards didn't even check me for ID" the Atlantean boy muttered, his eyes sweeping the room. He could see all the appropriate Rhealasia dignitaries from both North and South seated at a long table raised on a high dais. Behind them were their security personnel, personal assistants and Red Arrow, who was standing behind the conference's chosen arbitrator, Lex Luthor.

Christine scowled as she caught sight of the bald businessman.

It was bad enough that Luthor was on and off screwing her mother, without him also being a criminal mastermind.

_Whatever he has planned for this conference cannot be good._

Her eyes narrowed as she focused on diverting the camera up towards the high ceiling to get a better vantage point of the room.

Both the leaders of the North and South were bickering loudly, nearly trampling over Luthor to lash out at each other. The businessman stayed calm as he said.

"Gentlemen, that is mere rhetoric." Luthor said smoothly. "Despite your differences, you still share an appreciation for many things such as the exquisite art of the Rhelasian Tea Ceremony."

"Hmm, I wonder" Christine hummed to herself as she focused the camera on a new woman entering the room. She was pushing a tea trolley and dressed in a traditional Rhelasian costume and had painted their face white. The young bird didn't need to run a facial scan to recognise the smirk.

"Kaldur, the tea lady at twelve-o clock" she whispered into her com and Kaldur nodded, turning to face the strange woman, his waterbearers raised.

"That is far enough, Cheshire."

There was a gasp as the woman's eyes widened, glancing quickly at Red Arrow who had just prepped an arrow ready to fire from his red bow.

The corner's of her mouth twitched upwards in a smirk as she pressed a button on the side of the trolley.

"HYA!" Cheshire yelled as she thrust the trolley towards Kaldur, who was quick to raise a magical barrier of water as Red Arrow fired his weapon.

His combustion arrow hit the trolley just as it hit the outside of the barrier, causing a loud explosion that made Christine's ears ring even as she viewed the shaky footage from the other side of the globe.

"Easy girl, easy" She muttered as she frantically settled the drone's position to hover behind Kaldur's back as he ripped off his now ruined jacket.

"IT is over Cheshire" Roy snarled as he leapt over the conference table to join his ally.

"You'd think so" Cheshire smirked as she got to her feet.

"Guys, my drone's sensors are picking up movement outside." Christine spoke as she zoomed in on her drone's camera. At the far end of the room where there had once been windows, was now a gigantic hole, through which the tall, muscled form of Sportsmaster leapt down into along with a bunch of shadow operatives from a helicopter.

"Shau zo sa so." One of the Rhelasian dignitaries cried out, and his security detail was quick to engage Sportsmaster's henchmen.

"Take Sportsmaster, Cheshire's mine." Roy called to Kaldur over the noise.

"So territorial, and only our third date." Cheshire taunted, completely ignoring Kaldur who had leapt into a high vaulted flip to land solidly behind her and rush at Sportsmaster.

It was pandemonium. Shadows and security guards were wrestling and grappling with one another left right and centre. Red Arrow was busy fighting a smirking Cheshire who had taken out a pair of sharp sais and gracefully defended herself.

Amidst all the chaos, Christine manoeuvred her drone to zap the shadow assassins with her small taser. It wasn't an easy job, the Assassins were quick to try and swat at her machine, and many times she had to weave up high into the air to avoid one of the wings from being snapped off.

And yet all the while, Lex Luther sat back quietly and watched.

_Something is weird. It's not like Luthor to hang around while he's getting attacked. Usually, he tries his best to crawl to a safe little den and resurface when the fighting's stopped. So, what gives, why is he staying put?_

Christine frowned as she zoomed her camera in to focus on the billionaire. He was looking utterly relaxed, and yet he seemed to be focused on something very hard.

_Just what are you looking at?_

Carefully and quietly she followed the path of his gaze with the drone's camera, only for her vision to fall upon Aqualad and Sportsmaster.

Both were both evenly matched as the latter transfigured his water bearers into swords to successfully parry against the former's sharp fencing foil.

"Not bad Lad" Sportsmaster conceded, impressed by the younger man's daring. "Better than your team did at Santa Prisca or Bialya."

"Wait for what?" Christine gasped in her com just as Aqualad himself spluttered.

"How did you-"

"Let's just say I have an inside source. Very inside." Sportsmaster's eyes narrowed.

Christine felt her heart almost still in her chest.

That…was not possible. There was no way that was possible.

She was so shocked she almost missed Red Arrow perching himself atop a fallen statue and pointing his arrow up to the roof.

"Aqualad, let's end this." He let the arrow fly at the sprinkler system above his head.

It burst open, and water splashed down from on high onto the fight, spraying both friend and foe alike.

Only Kaldur remained undeterred from the spray as his eel tattoos glowed brightly. Water sloshed around his ankles as he raised his arms.

At once the water began to twist and converge, transforming into a large translucent serpentine shape that roared as it wrapped its way towards Sportsmaster.

The villain's eyes narrowed, yet he made no move to escape as Cheshire suddenly leapt in front of him. Quick as lightning she pulled up her own cat-like mask and throwing down a dark smoke pellet into the mouth of the water serpent.

"Damn!" Christine muttered as she did her best to recalibrate her drone's motion sensors.

"Guys look out!" she cried out in alarm as her thermal radiation picked up a body flying through the air towards her two friends.

They were quick to dodge blindly, only to gasp as the shadow assassin leapt over their heads and brandished two katana at the terrified dignitaries.

Amidst all the chaos, Lex Luthor merely smirked and drawled.

"Mercy"

At once his secretary, a young, pretty woman with dirty blonde hair and wearing a navy skirt suit, raised her arm, palm facing outwards.

There was a blast, and Christine stared aghast at her screen as the assassin was hit by a blinding bolt of pure white energy.

He fell to the floor, his swords clanging to the storey even as the woman, mercy, tucked her energy cannon away behind the organic skin like the casing of her cybernetic arm. The synth skin was so smooth that even as her arm reassembled itself back to normal, there was no hint of any crease or seam.

"Gives new meaning to the arms race, doesn't she?" Luthor smirked smugly at the dignitaries shocked faces.

_Well, that explains why he was so calm about everything. With a cyborg bodyguard behind me, I wouldn't feel the need to lift a finger either._

Christine scowled, folding her arms as the North and South Rhelasian dignitaries both bolted forwards to clasp the billionaire's hands eagerly and ecstatically.

"That technology is most impressive, Luthor."

"We owe you our lives, sir."

"They owe him their lives?" Red Arrow turned to Kaldur and her drone, folding his arms.

"Uh guys, I hate to say this, but it gets worse" Christine spoke into the com, and both young heroes turned around.

Behind them, in the clearing smoke, Cheshire and Sportsmaster had both vanished.

"Well that's just perfect" Roy rolled his eyes as Kaldur sighed heavily.

This really wasn't going as he had planned, though it had undoubtedly given the three of them a lot to think about.

_There's no way any one of us could be a mole…could there?_

* * *

_**Washington D.C., September 7 2010, 18:32 EDT** _

Swift was in a small room off the main hall of the Hall of Justice alone. She'd rehearsed her speech and practised the public speaking tips and techniques with Superman until she was blue in the face, but she still felt really nervous. Just the thought of speaking not only to the reporters outside, but of addressing the entire world was making her stomach do backflips.

_"_ _Just relax and pretend you're with the team delivering a report."_

Kaldur's voice bounced around her head. He'd given her some good advice and had been very helpful in bouncing off ideas.

Had it not been for this press conference looming over her head she might've allowed herself to enjoy hanging out with him. Kaldur wasn't like Wally or Dick, who was always on the move and full of beans, or moody and scathing like Roy. The Atlantean boy was instead quiet, thoughtful and enjoyed intelligent conversation. Swift hoped sometime in the future they'd get to talk like they had that morning, more often.

Despite that, she couldn't help but gulp nervously as she recalled the events she'd seen through the Micro-Bat in Taipei.

Lex Luthor was overseeing the peace summit. Sportsmaster and Cheshire both working in tandem for the League of Shadows.

The Shadows attack on the peace summit wasn't usually something she'd count as suspicious. Ra's Al Ghul wasn't below taking extreme measures to cement his vision for the future of the earth, and yet…

Christine couldn't shake off the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach as she remembered the way Luthor had watched the battle.

He had looked so cold, so calculating. As if he were waiting for something to happen.

And then there was what Sportsmaster had said about a potential mole on her new team.

_He's just saying that to cause chaos and reap dissent._

A voice in her head said a voice that sounded eerily like Batman.

She chewed her knuckle as she thought hard.

The fact that Sportsmaster knew about what happened at Santa Prisca didn't bother her that much. He had been there to see her and her team take down the factory; he could've easily gotten information from Kobra or Bane about what happened. But for him to know about Bialya…that was a secret mission that no one outside their team and the league was supposed to know about-

There was a tap on the door.

"Come in."

"Swift, it's time" she turned to see a raven-haired beauty with a golden diadem poke her head through the door. Wonder Woman smiled kindly down at the young girl as she escorted her down the main hall.

"Bruce, Clark and I will be out there with you. Don't worry you'll be fine."

Swift just nodded, feeling if she opened her mouth now she'd throw up.

The front doors opened, and they stepped down the front steps onto a red carpet. Clark, in his Superman suit, was waiting at the end in front of a podium which was set up with a small stool.

Swift scowled. God, why did she have to be so short?

Wonder Woman stepped to join the original seven, who were standing along the side facing the public. She stepped up onto the stool and looked over the crowd for the first time.

Immediately her eyes were assaulted by large flashes and loud calls as reporters pushed and shoved leaning over the velvet rope that separated them from her spot behind the large podium. She gulped trying to remember what Clark had told her but her mind had gone blank.

Too many thoughts were running through her head. The cameras, the lights, the stool, the idea that there could be a mole on her team.

_Okay, okay. Just relax and pretend you're back at Mount Justice._

To give herself something to do she decided to pull down her mouth mask, using it as a cover to glance at her script. She seemed to be looking at it as if through a daze.

She could feel the familiar itching in her palms and the sweat beading on her brow. She had forgotten just how much she hated public speaking. Even at school, she was never good at it.

She took another deep breath. Everyone around her stopped short to listen intently.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Swift, Batman's partner…but you probably already knew that because that's why you're all here…umm."

Ok, maybe half of the first line. A lot of people tittered in amusement.

_Shit, now they're laughing at me. Great start._

She could see Batman standing off to the side in the corner of her eye. He gave a minuscule nod. She looked back at the crowd; the adults were looking at her, some people scribbling notes. The sound was both irritating and frightening.

"So, you've probably heard a lot of things about me, some nice but also a lot not so nice." She gulped, as she scanned the crowd for a familiar face. She knew some of the reporters in the crowd, maybe if she could lock onto one of them it might help ease her nerves.

It didn't help.

_Screw this._

"But let's get one thing absolutely clear. I have superpowers" she coughed, doing her best to ignore the slightly surprised look flashing over Superman's face as she went further off script.

"And yes, it is a bit of a shock to people, but that's the truth. I have powers and I…I…"

Her throat caught in her throat as she looked up from her podium and into the crowd.

There, just behind one of the big cameras, dressed in a dark hooded sweater with a purple scarf, was a tall, handsome man with short dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. Brown eyes that she had once had before her transformation.

"Papa…" she mouthed, staring at the figure, whose eyes widened as he ducked out of sight.

She was so shocked; she didn't hear something clicking faintly from somewhere on high, not until someone gasped in horror.

There was a deadly silence as everyone's eyes suddenly focused on Swift's black-suited chest.

Swift looked down, her blood-chilling to ice as she saw the red laser dot move from the middle of her breast up to her forehead.

There was a glint of metal faintly twinkling in the sunlight then-

BANG! BANG! BANG!

There were loud screams; people began shouting and running away from the podium. Swift was gasping for breath as a dark shadow tackled her to the ground, cloaking their body with theirs.

"Batman!" she cried out.

"Stay down" Batman grunted, clutching at his side which was bleeding profusely from three large bullet wounds.

In front of them, the leaguers were busy shielding the frantic public from more gunshots which appeared to be coming from the bushes of the nearby park.

Whoever was attacking were very keen marksmen, for their hits were precise even as they shot at the fleeing, screaming crowd.

"Wonder Woman, Manhunter, Green Arrow! Follow the bullet's trajectory and take them out" Superman ordered, and at once all three leaguers leapt into action.

Swift meanwhile could barely move as a weight suddenly fell on top of her.

"Dad!"

"Are you alright?" the Dark Knight grunted softly as his shoulder and both his legs began to sting as each one of the bullets dug deep into his flesh.

"Yes, I'm fine. Hold on; I'll get you up." Swift whispered, trying to keep herself together as she pried Batman off from on top of her. She pulled on him with all her might and got him to stand.

"The gunmen…" he leaned on her slowly.

"the League is taking care of them." Flash said as he zipped over to them.

"Don't worry Bats I gotcha, ah man you're heavy. I keep telling you to lay off the true blood."

The speedster winced as Batman glared at him.

"Ok ok! Just kidding! KF, go back inside and catch a zeta tube out of here now!"

"Righty-o!" a new voice spoke, and Swift barely had time to register who it was when she was suddenly picked up by a blur of yellow and red.

"Wally what the?" she cried out as Kid Flash set her down by the Hall of Justice's Zeta Tube.

"Bats kept the team on high alert since the beginning of the press meeting. He had a feeling it might be targeted, so he had me stationed here to run you out of danger should anything happen and it's a good thing too." Kid Flash explained, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the Zeta-Tube before she could even argue.

"Hold on tight."

"Wally wait-my dad-"

_Recognized Swift B-0-2,_ _Kid Flash B04_

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 7 2010, 18:55 EDT** _

"SWIFT!"

"Thank god!"

Christine cringed as the yells hit her ears. She blinked as Robin crashed into her grabbing her by the shoulders as he looked her over.

"We saw what happened, are you okay?" he patted her down, gasping as he looked her uniform over.

Christine followed his gaze and almost fainted with shock. Dark blood was staining the front of her uniform in large red patches.

"Whoa, easy there girl wonder" Kid Flash quickly grabbed her, helping her sit down to the ground as her vision blurred and her legs buckled beneath her.

"Oh my goodness!" she could vaguely hear M'gann's voice cry out in shock as she and Conner rushed forwards, the latter scanning the young girl with his X-ray vision.

"She's not injured, so where's it coming from" he frowned when he didn't see any sign of an open wound.

"D-Dad…" Christine mumbled, her vision still swimming. She felt dizzy.

"Batman must've gotten shot when he pushed you down" Robin growled angrily as he looked away to examine the Hall's security footage on a holo-screen beside them.

Christine shut her eyes to the ground when the replay of the gunshots echoed in her ears.

She could still hear the laboured breaths of her godfather, could still feel the weight of him as he had lost consciousness on top of her. Her brain was a mad whirl of loud bangs and blood.

"Rob, turn it off, you're making it worse!" Artemis hissed as the younger girl's face suddenly tinged green.

"Wally get a bucket!" Kaldur barked as he replaced the speedster's place crouching beside her on the ground.

"Already got one" Wally called as he zipped from the room, returning two seconds later with a large metal bucket in his hands only just in time.

"Oy, there goes my lunch" Wally coughed, looking everywhere but Christine as she heaved into the bucket.

"That's it, girl, just let it out" Artemis thudded her helpfully on the back as she crouched by her other side.

After a few more wretches where she had expelled everything into her system, Christine wiped at her mouth.

"Sorry." She rasped, still dribbling a little at the mouth.

"Don't apologise" Kaldur rubbed soothing circles on her upper back. "You just went into shock that's all."

"But, I've been shot at before-" she mumbled, cheeks heating up as embarrassment filled every fibre of her being. "-and I've seen crime scene's bloodier than this-"

"Yeah, well it's different when it's the blood of someone else than someone you know isn't it?" Robin nodded reaching out to pat her on the head "Don't worry. I'm sure B-Man will be fine. He's had worse."

"True…" Christine whimpered, dropping her head over her bucket as it began to throb painfully.

"M'gann, Artemis, why don't you two take Swift to the showers and help her clean up and settle down."

"Of course." M'gann nodded as she and Artemis quickly hoisted the girl back onto her feet, holding onto her from either side as they all but dragged her from the room.

"Come on Swift, up you get. That's it" Artemis grunted as M'gann levitated the bucket of puke behind them, leaving the boys alone in the main hall.

"So, what now?" Kid asked only to wince as a bright yellow light announced the arrival of someone new.

_Recognized Red Arrow B-0-7_

"Roy! What are you doing here?" Robin cried out as Roy Harper dashed into the hall, panting for breath.

"I just saw the news. Is she okay? What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out" Conner grunted folding his arms as he and the others turned to Robin, who quickly brought up the security footage from the Press Conference.

"Damn, whoever these attackers were, they obviously knew what they were doing. Even the league can't seem to get a grasp on them" the boy wonder growled as he looked at the attack from different camera angles. No matter how hard they all tried to watch, they, like the Justice League caught not hide nor hair of the attackers.

"Bullet trajectory analysis shows that the guns were fired from the tree line of the park around…here." Robin Zoomed in on a section of the green spot just out of the camera's vision.

"Wait, isn't that the spot where the Zeta-Tube is hidden?" Roy's eyes narrowed.

"What? You mean the one we used when we first came to the hall?" Kid Flash's eyes bulged out of his mask in shock.

"But that's impossible. No one except the justice league and us is supposed to have access to the Zeta Tubes."

"And yet that would explain why they were able to disappear before the Justice League could catch them" Robin frowned as he began looking up the Zeta-tube logs.

"Hmm…that's odd."

"What is it?" Conner frowned glancing over the boy wonder's shoulders.

"The bad guys did use the Zeta Tube to escape the park, but the coordinates they've given…it doesn't make sense."

He pulled up a satellite map of the coordinates he traced, which appeared to be somewhere in the middle of the-

"The Hall of Justice?" Kid scratched his head "Hang on that can't be right? I was right there beside the Zeta Tube with Swift by the time they escaped."

"And I checked in at the hall just after you guys left; I would've seen anyone coming in after you."

"Perhaps the Zeta Tube could've been a distraction." Kaldur scowled. "They pretend to use it and slip away into the park disguised as a civilian. Hide in plain sight."

"Maybe, but we can't know for certain." Robin sighed heavily.

There was a pause as all four boys pondered the situation.

"Swift should stay here at the cave" Conner blurted out after a full half minute of silence. "There's no way she'll be safe if she leaves."

"Yeah, no kidding. With Batman out of commission, it'll be safer here than at the Batcave" Robin agreed, glaring up as he replayed the footage once again, this time in slow motion.

_Beep! Beep!_

They turned as a giant holographic screen popped up behind them, and Batman's face appeared enlarged. He looked grim.

" _Batman to the Team, I take it that you all are aware of the situation?_ "

"Yes, we are" Kaldur nodded. Robin, Wally and Conner remained silent

" _Then I don't have to explain much to you. Argh!_!" he winced slightly as they heard a stern British voice say

" _My sincerest apologies sir but I warned you this would hurt_."

Batman glared at somebody off the screen, and they heard the British voice heave a sigh. The Bat turned back to them, looking at Robin.

_"_ _Where is Swift?"_

"M'gann and Artemis took her to have a shower" Robin glanced at the corridor which the girls had gone down.

"We were wondering if she could stay here for tonight." Conner looked up hopefully, and Wally nodded.

"Yeah! Y'know till the league figures out what happened. I mean it's safer for her to be here than at a known Leaguers base, right?"

To say the Batman was glad was a definite understatement. The fact that they the team had suggested the idea before he did, proved to him that he had made the right choice in letting his partners trust them.

The corners of Batman's mouth twitched as he held back a relieved smile. Instead, he opted for a curt nod.

" _That would be the most logical choice. Very well then, she may stay. But if she stays then, all the team stays put too. We still don't know much about the identity of our attackers, and we don't want to risk them coming after you all. I or someone from the league will contact you if the situation changes. Batman out._ "

The screen shut off and Roy muttered.

"Looks like you guys are under house arrest."

"Oh yay" Kid Flash rolled his eyes.

"It's probably for the best." Kaldur rubbed his temple "Batman's right, we don't know who's responsible."

"So what, are you're saying we should just sit tight? Let the ' _grown-ups'_  handle it while we sit all huddled up alone in this cave?" Conner growled, his temper flaring up.

"Superboy I don't like staying put any more than you do." Kaldur put up a placating hand "But if we go out searching for the attacker and divide our forces, we're only making the situation more dangerous. Whoever is after Swift might come after her here, and if what we saw is any indication we'll need all hands-on-deck to keep her safe."

"But we can't just let the league blunder around! Swift's our friend! If you really cared about her, you'd-"

"It's because I do care about her and the rest of this team that I'm putting my foot down. The team stays here to protect the cave. End of discussion!" Kaldur snapped, pale green eyes flashing as his tattoos briefly crackled with energy.

"Woah, easy there guys! We can't start fighting amongst ourselves, that's just what our enemy wants." Wally zoomed his way to stand between the super clone and the Atlantean who were both standing toe to toe and glaring one another down.

"Yeah, if we do this the bad guys are only going to win." Robin grunted as he tried to tug Superboy back, just as Roy grabbed Kaldur's shoulders and dragged him back.

"Get a hold of yourself Kal." the archer muttered so that only the Atlantean could hear him, before addressing the rest of the group. "Listen, you both have a point. We can't just let the bastard get away with hurting our friend, but we also can't leave Swift here with minimal defences."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Kaldur narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"I'm suggesting that you guys all stay put, and I'll go investigate the attack. I'm not on the team so Batman can't technically bench me if something goes wrong, but I'm also flying low enough under the radar, so the enemy won't think I'm a threat."

"It's a risky move going alone." Kaldur murmured, and the others all nodded.

"Yeah, what if you run into trouble? Who'll help you then?" Wally and Robin both folded their arms at the older archer.

"Then I'll call you guys. But hopefully, it won't come to that" Roy ran a hand through his ginger hair with a tired sigh.

"Listen, it's getting late, and we're wasting time here talking. Do you agree to stay here if I go out and investigate?"

There was a silence as Kaldur, Robin, Wally and Superboy all looked at one another, the lattermost sighing in defeat as he was stared down by the other three.

"Fine. We'll stay here."

"But you have to send frequent updates" Robin piped in, and Wally nodded.

"Yeah, and if you're in trouble, you've got to call us. No excuses."

"Now, you sound just like your mom" Robin sniggered, and the speedster glared at him.

"Hey!"

"Alright, that's enough you two" Roy rolled his eyes as he took a step back "So, you guys all good?"

"Yes, we are" Kaldur nodded, ignoring the glare Superboy shot him behind his back as he grumbled something under his breath.

"Then I'll get a move on. Stay safe." Red Arrow quickly typed in coordinates into the Zeta Tube, nodding resolutely at his friends as he vanished into a whir of yellow light.

_Recognized Red Arrow B-0-7_

* * *

_**?, September 7 2010, 23:48 EDT** _

"She saw you?! What do you mean she saw you?! This was a covert operation! There were supposed to be no witness to your presence." The old man in the shadows roared, banging his fist on the desk in front of him.

"It's not my fault your scientists gave her such shrewd vision" the masked man in the owl cowl clipped coldly, not phased by his father's temper. "I've told you time, and again, even without her powers she was a perceptive child."

"Don't take that tone with me  _boy._  You've been trained by the best assassins in the world. You of all people should be able to keep yourself hidden from prying eyes unless you…you…" the old man trailed off as realisation dawned on him.

His son in the cowl, stiffened anxiously as a pair of yellow eyes widened, glimmering horribly in the dark.

"You miserable wretch!" he growled "You  _let_ her see you."

The man in the cowl stood stock still all save his fingers which twitched in readiness by his sides as the old man rose to his feet behind his desk in the shadows.

When the old man spoke, his voice was a quiet and deadly whisper.

"Is this a part of your grand plan, to recruit her? Or were you letting your affection for her get the better of you?"

"You said you wanted her to follow us faithfully no matter what." The man in the cowl growled "to earn devotion you need emotional connection. I am making use of the emotional connection we have, and for that to work, she needs to know that, I'm alive-"

"I am well aware of the methods you are using" his father snapped waspishly eyes still glowering fiercely. "What I am angry about is you nearly derailing our whole faction in the process. Do you understand how dangerous your action was to us? What if one of the other Justice Leaguers saw you? We'd be discovered; all our plans would be laid bare for all our enemies to see."

"I am aware that my actions were reckless father." The son breathed "But I can assure you it was well worth the risk."

"I hope you are right boy." The old man sat back down gingerly in his seat in the shadows. "Both for your sake and for hers. Had you not been my son I would not have tolerated such a blunder. If this plan of yours backfires, you shall be on your own, and I will be forced to take extreme measures to rectify your mistakes."

"Of course. Goodnight father", the man in the cowl, bobbed his head as he stepped back and vanished into the shadows.

"Goodnight…my son."

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 7 2010, 23:55 EDT** _

The mountain was quiet as most of the team snored in the common room, after much debating they'd all decided to drag a couple of the sleeping bags from their survival gear up so they could all camp out in front of the television. They watched movies, avoiding watching regular TV so they wouldn't be bombarded with news stories about what had happened that day.

The only news they did get was directly from Black Canary and occasionally Roy, who would call Kaldur privately on his com. From these updates, they'd discovered that there had only been one attacker responsible and that all they'd fired had been the first shot. The other sprays of bullets had come from timed snipers and machine guns positioned and set to various timers and electronic equipment, which had been fried by the time the Justice League had found them.

They'd also discovered that Batman was well on the way to recovering from his injuries and was expected to be back in the field by tomorrow night, granted he didn't try to launch himself into action before that.

When they weren't discussing updates of the incident, talk turned to M'gann and Conner's first day at school. M'gann was excited to relay the news that she'd made the Bumblebee's cheer squad, and everyone was thrilled that Conner finally had a name and was doing well in class.

The only person that was keeping mostly quiet was Kaldur. Who was keeping watch over all of them quietly, occasionally joining in their banter if only to keep up the appearance of normalcy.

But Christine knew better. And so it was with one eye cracked open, that she listened intently to the sounds of the night.

With her echolocation she could feel every step the Atlantean took as he paced up and down the kitchen, whispering into his com.

"And you're sure there's nothing to report? All right…no. No problems here. Everyone is acting normal. Okay. Um-hmm. Of course. Keep us posted if anything else pops up. Alright. Goodnight Roy."

He clicked his communicator shut and sighed heavily, not noticing Christine as she sat up from where she had been lying on the couch.

"Everything okay?" she whispered and smirked as the Atlantean almost jumped out of his skin.

"Thank Poseidon, it's just you" he ran a hand over the top of his head as she softly slid out of her sleeping bag and padded her way over to the kitchen. As she hadn't packed her sleepwear in advance for the impromptu stay at the mountain, she was wearing one of Superboy's overlarge black T-shirts with the red S shield along with a pair of red shorts borrowed from Artemis. Her white hair was a true birds-nest, yet her yellow-orange eyes seemed so oddly clear even in the darkness of the kitchen.

If Kaldur was honest with himself, had he not known the young bird he might've been frightened by those two yellow orbs glimmering in the dark like a cat's as she sat close by him on the island.

"How long have you been up?" She whispered, taking in his now somewhat haggard appearance.

Staying up late combined with that mission in Taipei had taken a lot out of him that day.

"Not long" Kaldur whispered as he rubbed his tired eyes. "You"

"Haven't been able to sleep a wink" Christine mumbled as she quietly made her way to the fridge and quickly poured herself a glass of milk. "Want one?"

"No thanks." Kaldur raised one of his hands where he was holding a glass of water.

"You're thinking about what Sportsmaster said, aren't you?" She murmured as she took a sip of milk.

"I admit it has been plaguing my thoughts" Kaldur nodded gravely. "I desperately wish not to believe it, yet it's the only possible explanation to how he knew about Santa-Prisca and Bialya."

"And the press conference." Christine finished.

"You think so too?" Kaldur frowned, and she shrugged.

"I honestly don't know Kal. Normally I'd say yes, they were related, but there was something about the attack at the hall…I don't know. It just didn't feel like the League of Shadows."

She shut her mouth as her mind raced to those small moments just before she'd noticed the laser pointer on her chest. That moment when she saw that man's face. A face that looked so much like…

_No…it couldn't be. Not after all this time._

She took a sip of her milk as Kaldur frowned.

"Yes, I thought so too. It didn't seem to fit with the Shadows most recent actions. If Ra's al Ghul really wanted you dead, he would've attacked the Justice League himself. He knows you're important to the Batman; he wouldn't just let his underlings steal that privilege from him."

"I don't know whether I should be flattered by that or not." Christine snorted into her cup, and despite himself, the corners of Kaldur's lips quirked upwards briefly.

"Well flattery aside, you are definitely important to this team. And…and I think I speak for all of us when I say that I am glad you are alright."

Christine felt her cheeks burn so hot she was sure she'd combust into flames right there.

"Argh. How is it that with those kinds of one-liners you're still single?" she playfully slapped his shoulder.

"I'm not sure you've noticed but our current occupation doesn't leave much opportunity for dating" Kaldur snorted into his water, and Christine giggled.

"True." She fell silent, chewing her right index knuckle in her teeth as she mulled a thought over. "So, now what are we going to do. I mean about the mole thing?"

"I don't know. I suppose we'll just have to keep a watch on the team quietly. Observe and report." Kaldur sighed softly as he reached over to tug her knuckle from her mouth. "But right now I'm more concerned with keeping you safe."

Christine felt her chest constrict a little, her stomach seemingly filled with flapping bats as he squeezed her small claw-like hand tight in his own larger webbed one-

There was a loud grunting snort, and the two of them jumped.

Christine breathed in relief as she caught sight of Wally rolling over in his sleeping bag to start snoring in Dick's ear from where they were sleeping on the floor.

"I think we should get to sleep," Kaldur whispered softly.

"Good idea. Before Kid gets too loud" she giggled as she gingerly detached her hand from his. When they parted, she found herself, oddly, missing his touch. His hand was smooth and soothing against her much warmer one.

_He was just a good friend. Nothing more_

She told herself as they both tucked themselves into their sleeping bags, hers on the sofa, his on the floor beside the couch opposite hers. They both smiled at one another as they mouthed a goodnight, Christine missing the small lingering look in Kaldur's eyes as she shut hers to go to sleep.

When he was sure she was sound asleep, the Atlantean boy rolled over onto his back and sighed up at the ceiling unaware of the black shadow of the bat slowly slinking away from the shadows of the common room doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are, Episode 10 done.
> 
> This one took a while because this is where the plot starts taking a complete overhaul.
> 
> Swift's more involved in Kaldur's search for the Team's "Mole" (and they're sharing more moments together). I thought it would be fun to add the bit with the Micro-Bat drone because when I started re-writing this chapter, I was torn between wanting her to be in Taipei with Red Arrow and Kaldur, or not to be there. So I decided she would be there with the two of them but take a more back seat role behind a drone. The Micro-bat is supposed to be a prototype invention from Lucius Fox. They already have the Remote control Batarang in the Arkham Game series so why not have a bat drone too? if you're wondering what it would look like, think of something the shape and size of a golden snitch painted black and with four buzzing bat wings and a camera (Yeah, yeah I know my inner HP geek is showing)
> 
> Then there was the whole thing of the speech. Since I'm trying to make Swift more believable, I figured she should have a couple of weaknesses like fear of spiders and fear of public speaking. Since Swift's more of an introvert in this version it would make sense she's not comfortable addressing crowds she doesn't know. Then her relationship with Kaldur's beginning to blossom. At this point, they're still very much friends and are going slow.
> 
> Anyways review if you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next time.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	11. Terrors & Talons

_**?, September 9 2010, 02:05 EDT** _

A man in a black suit stepped forwards towards the half-lit ornate oak desk. A woman sat in the black leather chair behind. Her head was concealed in shadow, but he could make out her dress, a rich satin wine red with a plunging neckline.

"Mam, apologies for the late inconvenience" he bowed respectfully

"And yet you still insist on inconveniencing me" She drawled tapping a cigarette on an ashtray.

"Mam it's about the girl. She hasn't been seen with her mentor at all. She's not at the manor she hasn't even gone on patrol."

"It figures you twit!" The woman snapped squashing the dog end down. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has the girl under lock and key by now. But no matter. She will come to me soon enough."

"And then shall we kill-"

"No!" the woman slammed a long-nailed hand down hard "You don't pick the fruit off the tree when it's only just begun to ripen. You take it when it's completely at its sweetest before squashing it. No, my dear fellow, this is just a little taster. A trial run if you will, it will be a long time till we must kill her. Now leave, me I have an important meeting to attend."

The man bowed and exited the room quietly. The lady sighed and clicked a button hidden under the table top. Many holographic screens appeared in front of her. All had images of bright lights shaped like people.

" _Welcome back Red Queen_ " the screen with the label L-1 addressed her.

"Thank you" the woman; Red Queen drummed her fingers on the desk impatiently.

" _I take it your investigation into the attack on the Hall of Justice is going well?_ " L-2 asked sounding intrigued.

"Not as well as we hoped. No" she gritted her teeth in aggravation. "However, you are right L-2. The Bat is indeed very paranoid."

" _If there is one thing he treasures more than Gotham City it is his little birds._ " L-2 snorted knowingly.

" _And yet, for a child she is certainly causing more trouble than we can afford_ " a female voice spoke from the screen saying L-4.

" _Indeed_ " L-3 murmured in agreement " _But she has not yet reached her peak just yet. Give or take a few years, and she might be a greater threat than her mentor_."

" _Zen why don't we eliminate zat brat as soon as possible?"_  A robotic French voice spoke from L-6's screen.

" _Because we need her_ " L-1 sighed " _She is the only one who we can use to find all the others_."

"Her powers are only just starting to develop" Red Queen glared hard at the screen as she lit another cigarette. "It may still be months, even years before she realises what she is or what her destiny is. Until then we have time."

She looked at the ornate clock on her desk. "Forgive me; I must retire. My schedule for tomorrow is quite packed."

" _We understand. Keep us informed if any news should reach you about your target_."

The screens all shut off at once plunging the room into total darkness.

* * *

_**Mount Justice September 9 2010, 16:17 EDT** _

The faint sound of classical music filled the great hall of the cave even as a tired Artemis trudged into the room.

She had just gotten back from her long jog around the mountain to finish off her solo workout, only to stumble across the strangest sight she had yet seen in the mountain.

It was Swift, not in uniform but dressed in a black leotard with a lavender wrap that matched a pair of leg warmers over a couple of satin pointe ballet shoes.

She was practising fouettes on pointe, in fast repeated graceful spins. Artemis quirked an eyebrow as the younger girl's white bun barely moved an inch with every turn. She didn't even seem startled by Artemis's stunned face as she said.

"Oh, hey Arty. How was your run?"

"It was…good…" Artemis answered half torn between awkwardness and awe as the young bird stopped gracefully in the third position. "I didn't know you did Ballet."

"Not many do" Christine snorted as she walked over to her water bottle and took a sip. "Not exactly good for street rep when taking down the bad guys."

"Yeah, no kidding. Sorry, I didn't mean-" Artemis spluttered apologetically, but Christine waved her off.

"No, no I get it. Batman's protégé and all, we're supposed to be all tough, dark, brooding and ready for action." She rolled her eyes smirking.

Artemis chuckled, shoulders relaxing slightly as she stepped forwards "So how long have you been dancing?"

"Years" Christine gasped as she took another sip of water "Way before the hero gig. But, ballet isn't all prancing airy-fairy over a stage in bows and tutus. It's hard work. It takes years to become a proper prima ballerina and a lot of sacrifices."

"What kind of sacrifices?" Artemis asked curiously.

"Oh y'know, your time, your social life, your lifestyle, broken bones and muscle strains. Pretty much the same as crime-fighting except without the crime or the fighting" Christine shrugged.

"Must be tough to balance both in your life" Artemis folded her arms.

"Oh, it's not too bad." Christine put down her drink bottle and stretched out her arms behind her "As long as I practice daily I'm fine. It's just when I have auditions and performances that I need to start upping the ante. Like now, for example, I've got auditions next week for the lead in a Christmas recital, so I've got to practice twice a day before patrol."

"Wow," Artemis's eyebrows rose, impressed. She might not have been a fan of girly ballet, but even she had to admire discipline when she saw it.

_Recognized Red Arrow B-0-7_

"Oh great." Artemis rolled her eyes as the whirring flash of yellow announced the arrival of the red archer. "I'll catch you later. Good luck practising."

"Yeah, see ya" Christine sighed as Artemis quickly dashed out of the room. She didn't understand why there was still so much animosity between the two archers. Both were good at their jobs, and she knew that if they just let go of their pride they might get along well.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Roy scowled as Artemis's back disappeared into the corridor.

"It's okay. I was going to stop anyway." Christine sighed as she paused the classical music on the cave's holographic computer. "I suppose it's impossible to ask you two to try at least to get along with one another?"

"You sound just like Kaldur" Roy rolled his eyes "Listen I'd like nothing more than to bury the hatchet with the replacement. But until we can prove that the intel we got from Sportsmaster is not true, then I'm keeping my guard up. Oh, don't look at me like that. I know you're thinking the same thing." He added when she pouted moodily at him.

"Maybe, but have you ever heard of the phrase, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" she put her hands on her hips.

"Listen, you do your things your way, and I'll do them mine" Roy shrugged, and she sighed. She was in no mood to argue.

"So how's the investigation going? Have you guys found anything new?"

"No, not so far." Roy grumbled, "We've been combing over the area, but we've so far found nothing else from the attack save what we found on the day itself."

"Same here." Christine murmured "We hacked into The Hall's security feed and the security footage around the area, but we couldn't find anything. It's almost like the attacker just vanished into thin air…" she trailed off, and Roy's eyes narrowed as she looked down to the ground.

"There's something else isn't there?"

"Huh? What?" she blinked up at him as he leaned down to glare at her.

"Don't give me the innocent doe eyes. You saw something that day didn't you?"

"Roy I-I don't know what you're-"

"Don't talk bull with me; your stage fright wasn't the only thing that distracted you on the podium was it?"

"Listen, I'm not sure what you're on about, but I've gotta pack this up-"

"Was it?" he grabbed her arm to stop her turning away.

"No, it wasn't! I was just nervous, now would you cut it out already!" she tried shoving him off, but Roy's grip only tightened as he growled.

"Bullshit! I saw your face on the security cameras. You saw something in the crowd, something that spooked the living daylights out of you. So what was it?"

"I didn't see anything, now let me go!"

"But Chris that could've been-"

"I said, let me go!"

"Agh!" Roy cried out in pain as something sharp, sliced into his skin.

He reeled back clutching his upper arm which was bleeding from four thin cuts.

He looked back up at Christine who was panting as she rubbed the bruise he had left on her arm. When she caught sight of his wound, she gasped.

"Oh my god…"

Roy felt his heart sink as he saw her look down to the hand holding the bruise and was horrified to see her nails and palm stained in deep red.

"oh no…" she breathed, her face now as pale as her hair.

"Chris-" Roy reached forwards, but she only backed away from him, yellow eyes widening in terror.

A terror that only increased tenfold as a voice called out:

"Hey! What's going on? Oof! Hey!" Dick winced as a blur of white, black and purple sped between him and Wally as they both entered the hall.

"Chris?!" Wally called, but already she was halfway down the hall.

"Damn it" Roy hissed as he gripped hard at the now stinging cuts on his arms.

"Holy shit, Roy" Dick gasped as he and Kaldur both ran to their friend.

"What happened? How did-"

"It was Christine. But it wasn't her fault!" Roy growled swatting them away. "It was mine. I lost my cool with her and made her snap."

"About what?" Dick folded his arms angrily.

"It was about her speech at the hall. I saw the footage of her before the first shots were fired, she seemed distracted by something."

"Well duh, of course, she was dude! You know how she is with public speaking" Wally rolled his eyes.

"No this is different! She was looking at something in the crowd" Roy groaned.

"What you mean you think she saw something?" Dick's brow furrowed.

"Worse, I think she saw the culprit."

"That's crazy if Chris knew the bad guys responsible for the attack she would've told us right away, especially since he hurt the B-Man. Right, Dick? Dick?" Wally turned towards Dick who had brought up the now two-day-old footage from the attack on the Hall of Justice.

He was rewinding and replaying one small snippet just before the first shot was fired, zooming in on his partner's face. Wally and Roy both watched, confused as they saw her eyes momentarily glaze over for a moment, and her mouth move in a murmur.

"Pa…pa…Papa?" Wally frowned as he repeated the words she mouthed out loud. "What does she mean by Papa? Isn't Daddy-dearest Batman lined up with the league next to her?"

"Dick?" Roy was now glaring at the boy wonder who was staring silently at the screen.

Then as quick as lightning he summoned up a comlink call on the holo-computer.

"Robin to Batman. We might have something on the attack on the Hall."

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 09 2010, 18:33 EDT** _

Christine sat in her room in the mountain. It was so different from her place back home. For one thing, it was more of a modern design with darker walls and metal furniture.

Yellow eyes wandered over the pages of a humungous, very old, leather-bound book in her hands.

It was the full compilation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series. It had belonged to her father, her real one, and it had been one of his favourite books.

"Papa" Christine murmured.

She traced her cold fingers over the beautiful black Baskerville Old Face font, remembering how a pair of bigger and warmer hands had held this book, a long time ago.

* * *

_"_ _Are you enjoying it?"_

_"_ _Ah huh! Can we read the next chapter?"_

_"_ _Hmm…I'm sorry little missy but no besides its way past your bedtime."_

_"_ _Awww but-"_

_"_ _Come on under the covers now. No, don't give me that look. *sigh* Fine we can read another chapter tomorrow night. How does that sound?"_

_"_ _Okay"_

_"_ _That's a good girl. Now sleep tight."_

_"_ _Wait! Where's Mister Fluffles?"_

_"_ _He's right here. There you go, snug as a bug in a rug now."_

_"_ _Papa?"_

_"_ _Yes, baby girl?"_

_"_ _Do you think I could be a detective when I'm older?"_

_"_ _You can be anything you want to be sweetheart, now how about a hug for your old man. Argh! Goodness, you're getting strong."_

_"_ _*giggles* Sorry Papa."_

_"_ _It's alright. Good night baby girl, and remember no sneaking out of bed or else-"_

_"_ _Yeah, yeah I know. Or else the owls will come and get me!"_

* * *

She set down the book next to the snowy owl plush toy Mister Fluffles that lay on a pillow beside her, before falling back onto the sheets.

She shut her eyes as flashes of dark shapes crossed her mind.

She didn't hear the door handle turn.

_She walked up a polished grand staircase._

She didn't feel the person's presence as they crept into the room.

_There was a door at the top. Voices were coming from inside it._

She didn't even know she wasn't alone anymore until it touched her.

"Swift?"

Christine shrieked in terror, eyes flying open as a hand tried pressing itself over her mouth. She grabbed whoever it was by the scruff of their necks and flung them down into the mattress. She rolled on top of them holding them by the throat.

"Swift! Swift, it's me! Agh!" they choked. Christine gasped, her eyes regaining their focus.

"Artemis?" Her hands loosened, and the blonde coughed roughly.

"Damn, what the hell girl! I was just checking in on you" Artemis spluttered as the thundering of footsteps outside the door.

"What happened?" Conner's voice boomed through the door.

Christine felt her heart sink as she caught sight of the whole team assembled just outside the door, all staring at her as she sat astride Artemis's midriff her hands wrapped around her throat.

Before even Wally could speed over, Christine dove for her bathroom door, shutting it behind her with a snap.

_What's going on? First I slice at Roy then I nearly strangle Artemis?_

"What's happening to me?" she wailed clutching at her white head of hair.

For the first time in her life, Christine didn't care that she was crying. She didn't care that her friends might see her like this. She didn't care that she was the partner of the Dark Knight, that she had a reputation to uphold.

She had been walking on such tenterhooks for the past few days, always looking over her shoulder, doing all she could to keep her powers in check. Her hearing and echolocation seemed to have spiked up to level ten, every tiny sound making her jump. She even felt angrier at everyone in general. Mad because she thought half of them were hiding something, especially Dick, who had been a bit quiet with her since the attack on the Hall.

She hadn't even noticed the bathroom door opening behind her until a pair of green arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Hey, it's okay" M'gann patted her head as she held the sobbing younger girl tight to her.

But it wasn't okay. She had just attacked two of her friends. How was it all okay?

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 10 2010, 24:36 EDT** _

The Mount Justice Counselling room was a cosy room with two green armchairs and the stone feature wall.

It was in one of the chairs that Christine sat in a T-shirt and track pants, opposite Black Canary.

It had been four days since the attack on the Hall of Justice and one since the young bird's lashing out at both her friends. Following both incidents, Christine had more or less shut herself off in her room, barely coming out except to get the occasional bite of food from the kitchens when no one was around.

Her teammates were anxious, even Artemis who'd been attacked had tried to talk with her through the door of her room. Roy too had attempted to visit to get her along with Dick and Wally, but Christine was adamant not to let anyone near her. On the rare occasion, she was with anyone she kept her distance. In many ways, she acted like she was carrying a deadly disease and didn't want anyone to catch it from her. It had been hard enough to get Batman to order her to agree to meet with Black Canary for this session.

Even now as she sat in the counselling room, she looked on edge as she curled one knee up to herself as the older heroine leaned forward to talk to her.

"I heard about what happened with Roy and Artemis." Black Canary said gently. "How are you holding up?"

Christine stayed silent, merely looking at the carpeted floor.

"I know how tough it can be. Getting used to new powers. It's not easy" Black Canary tried again "The good moments feel great, you're excited and on top of the world. But then you have the low moments, and when those happen you sometimes feel the whole world is falling over your shoulders."

"Understatement" Christine mumbled under her breath.

"I also know that hiding yourself away doesn't help." Black Canary added quirking a brow as she saw the young girl's lip curl.

"Right, and how many of your friends have you nearly killed? Not counting the times you've been under mind control" Christine added with a snap.

But Black Canary merely stared her down.

"Turning the conversation on someone else also isn't the answer."

Christine turned her face away with a pout.

Opposite her, the heroine exhaled heavily.

"Listen, we may not know each other that well but it doesn't take a genius to see that you're a very private person when it comes to your real feelings. So if you won't talk to me then at least talk to your other teammates."

"What's the point? They're all afraid of me." Christine murmured. "I see it every time they look at me. They're afraid I'll lash out, and something else will go wrong."

"No, they're not  **afraid**  of you, they're  **worried**  for you. There's a difference." Black Canary leaned forward again.

"There is only one person in this mountain that's afraid of you, and that's yourself. I know it's not easy" she added as the young girl glared at her "You've only had your powers for such a short time, and you're still discovering where your boundaries lie. Mistakes are bound to happen, and it's natural that you should feel a little anxious whenever something goes wrong. However, bottling up that fear and trying to avoid it tends to do more harm in the long term. Take it from someone who's lived with superpowers all her life. The only way you're ever going to control your powers is if you embrace them, not run away from them."

Christine was silent as she once again looked down at her toes. Like her fingers, the toenails on them were long and sharp, more like talons then actual feet.

"I just…I never thought I'd…" she gulped down hard on the lump in her throat. "I've always had so much control over myself and what I could do. When Roy started yelling at me and when Artemis surprised me…it was like…everything was so intense. I was so intense. Ever since I transformed everything I've has been so clear. My vision, my hearing, touch, smell, taste, all of it so fine-tuned, especially at night. It's hard to sleep, and it's hard to relax when I'm off duty. It's like I've got so much coming into my head all at once. The only time I can only dull everything down is whenever I dance or take a swim."

"Right." Black Canary leaned back on one of her elbows thoughtfully "And what is it about swimming that helps you relax?"

"I don't know, just being underwater I guess. Everything's kinda muted, and I feel weightless" Christine shrugged.

"And dancing?"

"I like it is all. It's one of the few things I can do where I can focus on one thing and nothing else."

"Hmm. I see…" Black Canary hummed thinking hard as she looked over the younger girl. Already she seemed a little more relaxed than before.

Now came the real test.

"I was talking with your partner earlier today."

"Oh yeah." Christine stiffened, eyes narrowing. "Which one?"

"Dick. He's been looking at the footage of your speech."

"Of course he was" Christine rolled her eyes, she knew where this was going already and sure enough.

"You saw your father while you were up on that podium, didn't you?" Black Canary said carefully. "Not Bruce. Your real dad."

"I see Wonder Boy's already spilt the beans on me. Must be a new record." Christine sighed leaning back in her seat, her leg dropping to the floor. "Alright, spit it out. How much do you know?"

"Not much. Only what Bruce was willing to say." Black Canary admitted quietly. "I know that shortly after your birth your mother and father divorced, and your dad had been granted full custody. I know That he was in military intelligence doing missions overseas for many years and that he sometimes provided Bruce and the Justice League top secret information on certain government projects."

Her eyes narrowed as Christine's fingers ghosted over the silver dog tags that were hidden underneath her sweatshirt.

"I know that you used to stay at Wayne Manor whenever he was away, and Bruce became a second father to you in that time. Then in 2006 when you were nine years old, he was declared Missing in Action while on an extended undercover mission in Siberia. A year later he was officially declared Killed in Action."

"And a week after that I had to bury an empty coffin and listen to everyone's stupid condolences." Christine sneered, yellow eyes flashing angrily "All those high-society assholes. They were there for the status boost and the free buffet. No one cared."

"You cared." Black Canary said softly, her eyes sad and sympathetic "From what I've heard his disappearance was what prompted you to take up crime fighting."

Christine said nothing at that, not that she could say anything. All of what Black Canary said had been true, no matter how much she hated to admit it out loud.

"I'm guessing that's why you didn't want to tell anyone that you saw him at the Hall, and why you were so mad when Red Arrow tried asking you about it."

"If I told Roy that I'd seen him that day…" Christine bit her lip, feeling the lump reappear in her throat again.

"You were afraid that Roy would jump the gun and accuse your dad of being the attacker."

Christine nodded, wiping at her now wet eyes. "I know, it's stupid. In my detective work with Batman, I'm supposed to be objective, unbiased. I must consider all possible outcomes even if I don't like them. But-but my Papa, I just can't believe that my papa would attack me like that. The man I knew, he might have been strategic and a good fighter in the field, but he'd never hurt me, or put the people he loved in danger, not even if the mission demanded it. I know he wouldn't."

"Maybe the man you knew wouldn't do that" Black Canary nodded solemnly "But it has been nearly five years since he vanished. If he is alive like you believe, he could have become a very different person."

"Yes, but surely not  _that_  different?" Christine looked up at the older heroine yellow eyes wide and desperate.

Black Canary sighed heavily.

How she wished she could agree with the young girl. She wholeheartedly hoped that she could just say yes, she'd find her dad and that he would be waiting for her the same as she remembered. But given Canary's experience in the league, she'd come to learn that rarely did people come back from a war the same way they went in.

And yet as she looked at the confused, frightened, anxious teenager in front of her, she found she didn't have the heart to contradict her.

_I guess I can only hope for her sake that she is right and her dad isn't responsible for all this mess._

The leaguer thought grimly, though she kept her smile on her face as she ended the session and excused her patient.

Once Christine was out of the room she was quick to set up a communications link with the Watchtower.

"Canary to Batman."

"Batman here." Batman's gruff voice spoke into the room "I take it you've finished your session with Swift?"

"I have. And you were right. She did see her dad that day in the crowd."

On the other end of the link, she heard Batman suck in a small sharp breath. But when he spoke, he seemed calm and collected as always.

"That would fit with the image we found from my cowl's live video feed."

"You don't sound too pleased with the result." Black Canary's lips pursed. She could practically hear the Dark Knight's scowl from her end as he growled.

"I'm not. The Stuart Hallows I knew would never be so clumsy as to let himself be caught while on a mission, not unless it was intentional."

Black Canary frowned "Do you think that he might be finally trying to reach out to Christine after all this time? If so it's a pretty extreme way to go about it."

"That all depends on how desperately he's trying to get to her."

"What do you mean? You think he's in trouble or something?"

"It's either that or he is the trouble. And I hope that is not the case here, if only for Christine's sake."

"Yeah, so do I." Black Canary pinched the bridge of her nose. This week was getting worse and worse.

Meanwhile, outside the room, Christine sighed heavily to herself.

_Well, that conversation could've gone better. And then again it could've also gone worse._

All in all, it was an interesting chat.

_So…Dad and the league now think my Papa tried attacking me, and they had to resort to a fake therapy session to coax the information out of me._

She shook her head as she meandered down the cave corridor.

_Do they think because I'm young that I'm too dumb to know when I'm being interrogated?_

She groaned in frustration, running a hand over her head of white hair. She supposed she should've seen this coming, Christine thought dryly to herself. She always knew when a lecture or questioning was coming from Bruce. He might've been subtle with other people, but his emotions to her were as apparent as a giant freight train crossing her path, even with the cowl over his face. It would stand to reason he'd send someone to do his dirty work instead.

She was so distracted she hadn't noticed that she had walked right into Kaldur as he exited his bedroom.

"Ow!"

"Swift?! I'm sorry are you alright?" the Atlantean spluttered in surprise.

"I'm fine, just fine" Christine waved him off, rubbing her nose. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry I'll be out of your way-"

"No-no! it's alright." Kaldur reached out gently for her wrist before she could move away. "I was just on my way to see you."

"Well, you've seen me now. Happy?" she shrugged.

"Are you always this stubborn and sarcastic?" Kaldur quirked a brow at her.

"Yeah, it's a gift" Christine rolled her eyes, only to heavily sigh as she caught sight of his worried light green gaze sweeping over her tired face.

"How did your talk with Canary go?"

"Alright, considering it was a pretty poorly disguised interrogation" Christine snorted.

"Black Canary is the team's guidance counsellor. It's her job to talk us through whenever we're going through tough times."

"Seriously? You're buying that lame excuse?" Christine shook her head "Listen Kal, Canary may be our designated counsellor, but Batman's still running this show. I'd bet you all my coin that whatever talks we have with her are the league's ways of keeping tabs on us so they can keep us in line."

"That may be" Kaldur agreed, folding his arms across his chest "but that still doesn't mean we can't benefit from her help. Black Canary is an experienced member of the Justice League; she has a great deal of insight to offer us."

"I suppose that's true." Christine conceded, a little bitterly. "But you don't know my Dad. He knows I won't answer to his questioning, so he'll leave it to someone else to do the dirty work for him. That's just the way he does things."

"Which just begs the question, what are you hiding that's so terrible that you'd not tell Batman about it?"

Christine shut her mouth at once. She supposed she'd walked right into that trap, hadn't she?

Kaldur sighed.

"Listen, Swift; you don't have to tell us what's going on. You've been under so much stress recently, and we're all worried about you."

"I know" Christine looked down ruefully at the floor. "I guess I'm not used to having friends worrying about me. I'm not exactly ' _Miss Congeniality_ ', even in ordinary life." She added bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Kaldur frowned.

"Well I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly bright, bubbly, sweet prom queen material."

"And that's a problem?" Kaldur's brow furrowed even further.

"Not to me, it isn't." Christine shrugged "But to everyone else outside it seems like it is. Everyone expects me to be this sweet obedient little daddy's girl. Even as Swift people expected me to be the dutiful shadow of the Bat. Now that I'm not…Well, you've seen Godfrey's rants."

"That man, if he can even call himself that" Kaldur muttered darkly. "I know violence isn't the answer, but someone needs to punch him in the face and then feed him to the sharks."

"Somehow I doubt even the sharks would want a bite of him." Christine sniggered, and they both chuckled, not noticing the two shadows peering around the corner of the corridor.

"Move over I can't see" Dick hissed as he peered over Wally's head. Behind them, Artemis rolled her eyes while Conner just leaned against the wall and listened with his super hearing.

"This is pathetic. I can't believe you guys are spying on them. At least M'gann can cloak herself" the blonde archer pointed to the opposite wall where they knew the Martian girl had turned invisible to listen in on the conversation.

"Shh! Shut up!" Wally waved Artemis off, squinting as Christine and Kaldur's laughter grew louder, filling the whole corridor. "Dude this is so weird."

"I know. Since when does Kaldur laugh like that?"

"Apparently when he's trying to impress the ladies" Wally smirked as Dick's eyes narrowed behind his shades.

"Wait, Kal's laughing?" Artemis shoved forwards to get a good look at the pair, Conner following close behind her.

It wasn't often that Kaldur let his guard down around any of the team. He would smile and joke on occasion, but overall, he was a private individual. It seemed his young lieutenant had a way of slipping past that stony exterior.

"What is it with Gotham's heroes being such seasoned cynics?" Kaldur chuckled, and Christine smiled.

"That depends" she let loose her long white hair from its bun. "Are all Atlanteans wet blankets?"

"I suppose I deserved that one" Kaldur smirked, and Christine sighed.

"Sorry, but as I said, I'm not Ms Congeniality."

"Maybe, but you're congenial enough to me" Kaldur's smirk softened.

From behind the corner, Dick blanched.

"Dude, are they flirting?" Wally and Artemis were both now gawking in shock.

_I think It's kinda sweet._

M'gann smiled through the mind link as Christine giggled and blushed a little, brushing her hair out.

But it was nothing compared to the jaw drops that happened as Kaldur reached out to take one of her locks in his fingers.

"There," he murmured as he tucked it behind her ear neatly "perfect."

"Thanks" Christine's blush deepened to a shade of magenta.

_Awww!_

M'gann squealed telepathically, her excitement contagious as Artemis and Wally both smirked, smugly at the scene, both thinking of new ways they could tease their two team leaders.

Conner and Dick, however, weren't so thrilled, the latter quickly stepping out from behind the corner and coughing loudly.

"Well, look who's finally out and about?!" he smirked.

"Di-Robin hey!" Christine spluttered, both hers and Kaldur's face reddening with embarrassment as they jumped apart from one another.

_Oh great, way to spoil the moment Rob!_

Wally groaned in frustration as he, M'gann and Artemis all rolled their eyes and facepalmed, only to groan louder as Conner followed the Boy Wonder's lead.

"Welcome back" the super clone's smile softened with relief as he came closer to Christine, who relaxed into a smile as he reached out to hug her.

Behind his back, Dick smirked victoriously at a now very peeved Kaldur.

"Nice try" the boy wonder mouthed and Kaldur's scowl deepened.

_Don't take it personally Rob and Batman have always been a bit overprotective of Swift when it comes to guys._

He heard Wally's voice through the mental link as he, M'gann and Artemis all rushed forwards to join the throng.

Kaldur sighed, he supposed it was only natural. His king Aquaman had told him that Bats were notoriously paranoid about protecting the things they cared about.

Still, did Robin have to be so hostile whenever it came to his partner? After all, they were just friends.

_Oh well,_

He thought as he watched Christine greet the team again.

_At least everything's back to normal._

* * *

_**The Batcave, September 13 2010, 05:02 EDT** _

Bruce Wayne sighed as he stared at the image in front of him.

Several days and he still could not believe his eyes.

There slightly blurred in the background behind several cameras, the handsome face of a man with brown hair and brown eyes stared back at him. The face looked shocked at the camera, as if not expecting to have been caught.

Bruce shook his head and sighed into his hands.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, he had never once truly believed that one of his best friends from boyhood had died in action.

Yet to see him alive and well in this one image…it was enough to make even his stomach churn over.

_Stuart, what the hell is going on? Just what are you up to? Where have you been?_

There was a beep from beside him, and the Dark Knight turned to another screen of the bat computer where an alarm was flashing on.

Quickly he closed the window with his friend's face and stood to his feet. Searching for missing friends could come later. Now he had a team to brief for a mission.

* * *

_**Mount Justice September 13 2010, 07:32 EDT** _

"BREAKFAST!" both Wally West and Christine Hallows exclaimed excitedly.

It had been nearly a week since the shooting at the Hall of Justice. Nearly a week since Christine had started her stay at Mount Justice. Things had settled down after her disastrous confrontations with Roy and Artemis. She'd apologized to both archers, and thankfully neither of them was upset with her at all. Roy admitted he might've been too forceful and Artemis, well, she learned to be more careful next time she was sent to wake the younger girl up.

The team, probably on Batman's instructions, were each spending as much time as possible with her trying to keep her as busy as a bee. Dick was there every minute of the day, always next to her like a short and loud guard dog. He'd also arranged things so that she'd have her room in-between his and Conner's. The super-boy had super-hearing and was a very light sleeper. So, if anything were to happen, he'd hear it first.

Each day members of the league popped in at around midday to give concise, very uninformative and very irritating updates. Usually, it was one of the mentors or Black Canary who would then take them for training afterwards.

Today, however, was special. M'gann and Conner would be going for their very first undercover mission. They were going to Belle Reve prison disguised as the Terror Twins, Tommy and Tuppence. Christine had spent the whole day yesterday helping them practice the thick southern accents and brusque mannerisms of the super-powered twins.

It had been fun, but today was the day that the pair would finally go undercover. Kaldur and Red Tornado were their handlers, with Christine as the backup second handler back at the Mountain.

The girl wonder looked up from her crossword, watching amusedly as Conner sniffed at his plate of scrambled egg. He'd never had egg like this before and he kept poking at it with his fork watching it suspiciously as if it would suddenly rise and attack him like a sleeping dragon.

"You can eat it you know?" Wally said through a mouthful of his own pile of egg some of which flew out of his mouth.

"Hey! Hey! Watch it Baywatch!" Artemis scowled and dragged her chair as far as possible from the speedster to avoid the projectiles of the half-chewed egg.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Prison food ain't that crash hot. So get what you can, when you can"

"Of course,  **you'd**  say that" the blonde archer rolled her eyes.

Wally was about to retort when Kaldur cleared his throat loudly from behind an open newspaper. Artemis smirked only to be silenced as Christine raised her eyebrows at her.

With a grumble, they both went back to their food in silence.

Dick scowled over his bowl of cereal as Christine and Kaldur both smirked amusedly at one another. It was eerie how in sync the two of them were when it came to keeping the team in line.

"That goes for you too Robin" M'gann playfully waggled the wooden spoon she was using to mix more scrambled egg for Christine's and Kaldur's portions.

"Yes, mam!" He smiled cheekily before turning back to demolish the contents of his bowl.

"So how is it, Conner?" Christine asked as the clone chewed his first bite.

"It's…" the blue eyes suddenly glazed over in wonder. "Really…good"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know…for the embryo of a dead baby bird," he shrugged in an attempt to be nonchalant.

Wally choked so hard that the contents of his mouth flew everywhere over the table. Conner and M'gann both ducked, Kaldur and Christine both had used their newspapers to hide behind, Dick joining Christine at the last minute. Poor Artemis however, received a whole face full.

She wiped the yellow mix of egg and spit slowly off her face, her blue eyes flashing dangerously.

"Run for it dude" Dick hissed kicking his best friend's shin under the table. The yellow-haired archer's cheeks were almost the colour of an aubergine.

"WALLY!"

"He's  _so_  dead" Christine smirked as the speedster dashed out of the room without a backwards glance at the table.

She could really get used to this.

Too bad fate had a way of screwing her life around.

* * *

_**Mount Justice September 13 2010, 23:56 EDT** _

Christine sighed heavily as she turned over in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Again.

Every one of her senses felt on edge and she was in no doubt why.

_I'm sure Conner and M'gann are both fine. If they weren't we would've heard about it by now._

Still, that didn't stop her worrying about the martian and the super clone. Though both had proved themselves worthy on the team, they still were relatively new to the hero gig. Undercover missions were not easy, and for a beginner, they often posed a significant challenge. At least M'gann could shapeshift, Conner had to be careful nothing destroyed his disguise.

She sighed as she got out of bed, slipped on her fuzzy slippers and slipped out of her room.

She needed some fresh air, and now that Conner wasn't there to eavesdrop on her in the night she could come and go as she pleased.

Her footsteps were quiet as she crept down the corridor, through the common room and out into the hall. Silent as a shadow she moved along the walls, careful not to move too fast just in case it triggered an alarm.

Within five minutes she was outside, embraced by a cool night wind.

Autumn was well on its way and already she could feel a bite in the air.

She pulled her dressing gown tighter around herself as she sat down on the grass just outside the cave's secret exit on the side of the mountain.

_So…four ice villains attack independence day. All three of them somehow position themselves to get into Belle Reve Penitentiary today._

She listed off in her head.

_Also on the fourth of July KF, Robin, Aqualad and I freed Conner from Cadmus. I get superpowers. On July 22_ _nd_ _we destroy a Venom factory belonging to both Bane and Cult of Kobra, producing the same venom strands the league knows Cadmus was experimenting on. Then come August IVO escapes after we dismantle his Amazo android, and we run into Clayface in Gotham after Batman, Robin, and I defeat the League of Shadows at Cape Canaveral. Now its September, we found the sphere in the Bialyan desert after Queen Bee's henchman Psimon wipes our minds, then the shadows attack the Rhelasian peace conference, and someone attacks the Hall of Justice while I'm making a speech. I'm not missing anything, am I?_

She frowned as she once again listed off all the events, this time counting them on her fingers only to scowl angrily.

_Oh, and how can I forget the icing on the cake, I saw my papa just before I was attacked and we might have a mole on the team._

She sighed heavily as she picked at the grass beneath her.

_Barely three months since Cadmus and so much has already happened. What's going to come next? An Arkham breakout? Oh god, I probably shouldn't joke about that should I? Knowing my luck it actually might come true._

She stiffened as she heard a rustling of leaves nearby.

_Probably just the wind._

Yet even as she looked to the source of the noise, she nearly leapt out of her skin.

There standing a few feet away from her on the grass, was a tall dark shadowy figure.

It had the body of a man garbed all in black, with a black cowl, the golden eyepieces designed to look like an owl's eyes, beak and crest. They wore elaborate black armoured shoulder plates accented with the stylized golden owl face. One of their hands bore a golden clawed gauntlet, and they carried a sheathed black and gold sword on their back attached to a cross holster armed with deadly throwing knives.

Quick as lighting, Christine leapt to her feet, hand flying to the utility belt she'd stashed around her waist.

"Smart girl" the man smirked beneath the cowl as she held up two black and purple birdarangs like daggers in her hands "But I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk"

"Talk? Like you wanted to talk back at the manor, or when Clayface attacked us in that warehouse? That was you wasn't it?" Christine narrowed her yellow eyes. For some reason the man's voice sounded eerily familiar even through the scrambler he wore beneath the cowl. It was something about the way he phrased his next sentence.

"I'm impressed you remembered all that."

"What can I say, I've got a memory like an elephant." She spat her grip on her birdarangs tightened, but she didn't move. No, she couldn't attack. First, that would give him justification for any future attack he had planned. He had to make the first move.

Yet even as she glared him down he looked utterly relaxed, even amused as he folded his arms and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Still just as stubborn as ever." He took a step forward and was surprised to see her stand stock still in the same spot "Where are all your little friends? I would've thought your guard dog Robin would at least be at your side"

"I can look after myself" Christine blocked his path "Now what do you want?"

"I want what you want. Peace, stability, a better world, the truth?"

"Bullshit." She rolled her eyes and he chuckled.

"Is it really? You may not see it yet but we're both similar you and I?"

"Oh really?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes." He took another step forwards. "We both care about our friends, our families deeply. We'd do anything we had to, to protect them"

"And who are you trying to protect?" Christine's brow furrowed.

The man paused where he stood, seeming to ponder his next words.

When he spoke next his voice was careful and measured.

"Your mother is hatching another one of her plots."

"Ugh, tell me something I don't know" Christine grunted.

"It has something to do with the mole that is apparently on your team"

Christine felt all the blood in her body chill to ice.

"How the hell do you know about that?" she breathed.

"You weren't the only one keeping track of the summit in Rhelasia." The man sighed "I have been watching over Sportsmaster and Cheshire for weeks. The Shadows aren't the only people they're working for. There is something far more sinister lurking behind the scenes. I do not know who they are, but I do know that your mother is involved somehow because I've seen several of her agents liaising with Ra's Al Ghul's forces."

"Was it one of her men that attacked the Hall of Justice? Or one of your guys?" Christine's eyes narrowed, and the shadow sighed.

"Hers most likely. My men were there merely to observe your speech, though I doubt we would've heard much with the way you were stuttering" He added with a snort, smirking as her cheeks flared the colour of a tomato. "Do not feel ashamed. Public speaking isn't easy, and in time I am sure you will learn to overcome your fears."

Christine didn't know what was worse. The knowledge that he had seen her stuff up so badly or the sympathetic way he was comforting her without a hint of condescension. Either way, she was still confused. Just who was this guy, and why the hell did he sound so familiar to her?

Her confusion only heightened as he reached down into a black pouch on his black holster and pulled out something small.

"Here. This belongs to you"

"What is it?" she gulped nervously, eyeing the thing warily as it shone in the moonlight above.

"Something that should've been given to you a long time ago" he murmured as he as he chucked it towards her. She dropped both her birdarangs accidentally on the grass in surprise as she caught the object.

_What the-?_

She blinked as she opened her hands. In them was a long silver chain, with a silver medallion about one inch in diameter. On one side engraved into the metal, it had an owl with its wings open in flight, on the other hand, were four lines of words engraved in tiny letters which she read aloud.

_Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time,_

_Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime._

_They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed._

_Speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head._

"You've got to be kidding me" Christine snorted as she turned the medallion over in her hands "The Court of Owls? Really? That's just an old bedtime story parents tell their kids to spook them into being good. It's just a myth, it doesn't…exist…"

Her voice fell away as she looked up, only to see no one standing there in front of her.

"HEY!" she cried out angrily. But all she heard back was the echo of her voice on the wind and the hoot of an owl from a nearby tree as it flew into the moonlit night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it Chapter 11, where everything really starts kicking off plotwise.
> 
> So yeah, the Court of Owls finally makes its official appearance in this chapter. Took me a while to figure out how I was going to bring them in but I finally did it! YES! Oh-ho-ho! now I can really get onto writing the good stuff.
> 
> Christine still doesn't have full control over her powers, and as such, you can expect more mistakes from her in future. I figured she'd not be good at dealing with failure, or seeking help, given that she's constantly expected to be top of her game as Batman's partner. I'm doing what I can to not make her as Mary Sue as possible so hopefully adding these faults might help.
> 
> Court of Owls and superpowers aside, I'm really starting to enjoy writing the Aqualad/Swift stuff. I especially am enjoying the way the rest of the team is reacting to the change. I always figured that Wally, Artemis and M'gann would ship the two of them while Dick and Conner would try to play the protective brothers to Christine (because in this version, Dick is technically Christine's brother and Christine is like family to Conner and we all know how overprotective he can be about the people he cares about).
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review your thoughts on where the plot is going. I always appreciate your feedback.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	12. Homefront

**_Gotham City, September 22 2010, 07:28 EDT_ **

Christine was sitting in the back of the black Porsche car. Alfred was at the wheel reading a newspaper as they waited. They heard the large front doors of the manor banged open and they turned to see Dick and Bruce both tumbling down the stairs, fully dressed but still slightly dishevelled. Bruce was still combing his hair back neatly the comb in one hand and his suitcase in another, and Dick's tie was askew.

She took one look at them and burst into laughter. It wasn't like neither of them could get up early enough; they both just spent too much time preening themselves like peacocks. Christine was already fully prepared in five minutes; her shirt was tucked into her skirt neatly, her black lace-up shoes brightly polished. The glamour charm the Justice League had gifted her had transformed her back into her old self, complete with dark brown hair and eyes which she quickly hid behind a phoney pair of rectangular reading glasses with purple and black rims.

No one would ever guess that she, this young slightly dorky almost fourteen-year-old girl, was one of the two formidable sidekicks of one of the deadliest Justice League members.

They sat on either side of her quickly panting for breath. For people who spent their nights punctually protecting the city, they sure found it difficult to get to the car on time for school or work.

"Come here you idiot" she pulled Dick close and began settling his tie.

"Dad your fly's still down," She said as she focused on tightening the knot.

Alfred smirked smugly at his charge who flushed with embarrassment. He quickly pulled up the zipper. Oh well, at least it had been Christine who had spotted it before he went out in public.

"Your skirt's looking shorter" Dick mumbled glancing down at her long legs peeking out from the school skirt.

Bruce and Alfred caught each other's eye in the mirror and rolled them together thinking the same exasperated thought.

_Teenage boys!_

"Yeah, I think I might've had another growth spurt over the summer" Christine blushed slightly completely unaware of the older men's silent exchange. "What? Does it look slutty or something?"

Dick quickly glanced down at her legs. His eyes swept over them. When standing, her skirt was just above the knees but when sitting down like this, it only reached her mid-thigh. He bit his lip.

"No! No! It doesn't. I mean it can't be any shorter than Candy-Candice's right?"

"I wonder what her plan of action for snagging you this year will be?" Christine broke away to let Dick put his seatbelt on before turning back to start again on his tie.

Candice "Candy" Delany was the bitch of their year. She was always trying to get Dick's attention ever since he'd been officially adopted by Bruce. Like Christine, she'd also came from an old prestigious family in Gotham, but he'd still never gave her the time of day, not even if she'd offer to pay him, which she had tried to do once before.

Dick rolled his eyes as Alfred hit the ignition. "Whatever it is it won't work. What about you? Speaking of avoiding people, how are you going to handle David?"

"David? Who's David?" Bruce asked sharply earing a groan from Christine.

"David Verdant. His mom's on the board of the Gotham Gazette and has been trying to set us up for ages because she knows I own the damn paper. He never used to pay me any attention until last year when I actually started to…y'know…fill out." she gestured to her chest and developing curves.

"He's such a creep." Dick agreed with a small scowl "He'll hit on anything with a skirt, but he's weirdly really keen on nabbing Chris"

"That's because I tell him to sod off. And it's not just me, do you remember how Babs slapped him last year?"

"How could I forget" Dick grinned "Man, that was one solid backhand"

"no kidding" Christine giggled and the two of them burst into laughter.

"Well it's good to know Gordon's daughter can look after herself" Bruce sighed frowning at both his wards "Though I fail to see why you didn't tell me of this last year when he was bothering you"

"That's because we knew you'd overreact. Besides, we've handled worse creeps on the streets" Christine shrugged and Dick nodded.

"She's right."

"Master Dick, Miss Christine we have arrived" Alfred announced as he pulled over in front of the open school gates.

Bruce smiled reaching across with a long arm to ruffle Dick's hair. "And now the two of you, please try to make it through to lunch without too much trouble?"

"Can't make any promises Bruce. Come on Chrissy" Dick grabbed Christine's hand.

"Have a nice day at work Papa" Christine kissed Bruce on the cheek as he handed her schoolbag to her.

She was too focused on trying to move quickly as Dick dragged her out the car doors that she completely missed the look of pain that flashed across her adoptive father's face.

"I will"

Bruce murmured as he shut the door and settled back in his seat. He wondered if she'd even noticed what she'd just said. Probably not…

"Master Bruce?"

Bruce didn't answer immediately but watched Christine's brown ponytail until a mass of honey blond curls crashed right into her. Christine smiled fondly at her friend and quickly waved back at their car, positively glowing. Alfred revved up the engine once more.

Bruce sighed waving back as she disappeared into the crowd "Mother would've loved her" Bruce watched the school get smaller and smaller.

"Indeed, she would've, especially since your mother was fond of the Ballet" He paused as he turned a corner "And so would've your father. I'm sure he would be proud of how well you've helped raise this both Dick and Christine… as are we all"

Bruce quickly turned around to face the front quirking his eyebrow.

"We?"

"Leslie and I…the league" The old Butler eye's softened his charge's eyebrows rose really high.

"They don't seem so happy about Christine now that she has her powers. Clark thinks she's dangerous" he muttered softly.

"If you don't mind me saying sir, but I hardly think Mister Kent really has a leg to stand on in that department when he himself is just as dangerous an individual" Alfred scoffed stopping at a red light "Besides. It hasn't all been that bad. Do you remember her first mission with you and the young master?"

"Of course I do." Bruce's lips quirked upwards into a small affectionate smirk "Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn both had Robin and I at their mercy with those blasted mind control spores. They were just about to get me to submit to their will and reveal my identity and then…Kathak!" Bruce pretended to swing something at arm's length.

"In the young miss comes, smashing the dirty janitor's mop right into both Miss Isley's face" Alfred's chuckles now joined Bruce's. "A cracking shot if ever I saw one sir."

"Stuart would've busted his gut if he could've… seen it…" Bruce's chuckles vanished as the pained expression returned.

"Sir?"

"What if he knew…?" Bruce gripped his hand tighter in a fist and his eyes widened. "What if he knew that Christine would have these superpowers? What if that's the reason he left? To find out where she came from-"

Alfred's eyes widened with dawning comprehension. "Shall I send you  _those_  files sir?"

"No," Bruce said quickly "If they are sent to my work computer Christine will figure it out. But please can you locate them, copy them to a file and quadruple encrypt them on the Bat-computer so I can read them when I get back"

"Very well sir"

"Thank you, Alfred,"

Christine had barely walked with Dick past the wrought iron school gates when a mass of honey gold ringlets crashed into her.

"CHRISSS! Oh-em-gee! I missed you!"

Freddy, Fredericka Lantern, was a fourteen-year-old, rather average in height and weight girl. She had light brown eyes and (as you've already read twice now) a mass of honey gold ringlets, tied in two high pigtails at the side of her head which when coupled with her sweet, cheerful and eccentric personality, gave the impression of a very excitable long-haired labradoodle.

"Hey Freddy" Christine grinned as she was kissed her on both cheeks. She'd known Freddy since she was four and was used to her open displays of affection for they were like sisters to each other. Christine even called Freddy's parents Aunty Jacqueline and Uncle Lui (short for Ludwig). They did everything together; they even had almost the exact same subjects every year at school with the exception of some extracurricular activities.

"Hey? That's all you can say? Babe, we've spent a whole summer apart and you can only say hey?" Freddy pouted but still linked arms with her besty.

"Well we've been pretty busy" Dick grinned as Freddy also linked arms with him so that she stood between the two of them.

"Busy eh? Pray to tell" She waggled her eyebrows and laughed at the way the two birds rolled their eyes.

"Not  **that**  kind of busy!" Christine groaned "we mean family business busy"

"Oh! I see." Freddy nodded slowly before adding in an undertone. "More bonding time with daddy dearest then?"

"Sort of…" but Dick broke off as a red-haired girl ran up towards them. She was Barbara Gordon daughter of the Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. A pretty girl with a stout heart Barbara was just about as loyal to her friends as Freddy. After Dick said hello he peered around her.

His face split into a wide grin.

"What?" Christine peered around and felt her eyebrows shoot right up. "Oh my god!" she grinned ecstatically.

There some distance away tugging at her skirt nervously, her long blond hair tied in a low ponytail was Artemis.

She looked especially nervous as Bette, a nice blonde girl from the year above Dick and Christine, came up to her to introduce herself.

"You know her?" Freddy whispered quietly.

"From the family business. I'll tell you later" Christine hissed smirking as Dick quickly rushed over to take a quick snapshot of him with school newbie Artemis before ninja stepping away.

"Dick, what was that about?" Barbara looked very confused.

"Nothing Babara, just being friendly with the new girl" Dick smiled as he archived the photo quickly into his Wayne Tech touchscreen phone.

They met with their other friends Martin and George Hamish at the front desk as they got their timetables printed out by the office ladies. Martin and George were identical twin brothers, tall lean with mousy brown hair and bright green eyes. However, over the summer it seemed, Martin had dyed the tips of his hair the same red as the school tie styled in a spiky do and George wore circular Harry Potter-like glasses.

As they looked at their timetables Martin hi-fived a deadpan Christine as they discovered that they were in the same ballet class again this year. After exchanging glances at each other's timetables, comparing teachers and complaining about boring classes placed at the worst of times, they all made their way to the large school hall where they sat for an hour as listening to the start of term assembly, which was boring as usual.

At the end of Assembly, they went to their respective homerooms and then off to class.

It was proving to be a rather fun day. So far Christine's first two periods had been devoted to Advanced English literature in which they were assigned to do an extensive comparative study between the film Blade Runner (Directors Cut) and the book Frankenstein for the entire semester. After recess was general mathematics where Christine was separated from Dick, who along with Barbara and George did advanced Maths. It bored the living hell out of her, Martin and Freddy as they sat gazing at a page of algebraic equations that they'd already covered last year but were being bullied to revise again before continuing with the course.

Then they had Gym and the group of six were all back together again in an epic boy vs. girl dodgeball game. The girls won, for at the end Christine and Dick were the only two players left, and she'd sneakily used her wind powers, to dodge all incoming projectiles. Dick knew this but was relieved the game was finally over because they'd been tying for over fifteen minutes already and he was really starting to get bored.

Christine, Freddy and Barbara gleefully gloated and Dick, Martin and George dutifully put up with it as they made their way to the cafeteria. Dick and Christine didn't need to buy any food because Alfred, as per usual had packed two beautiful lunch boxes, filled with homemade sandwiches, cookies, a slice of cake and a small carton of juice.

A little way away from them Artemis was sitting at a table with Bette. She was watching the two of them closely as she ate. They both looked very… familiar somehow…

"Uh, Bette?"

"Hmm" Bette grunted as she took a swig of water from her bottle.

"Who are they?" she pointed at Dick and Christine as the former stole a ring of tomato from the latter's sandwich sneakily.

Bette's eyes were wider than saucers. "Don't you know? They're Dick Grayson and Christine Hallows, Bruce Wayne's wards"

"What..?" Artemis looked positively bewildered now.

"Y'know Wayne, As in  **the**  Bruce Wayne?" Bette swallowed her gulp whole, vaguely reminding Artemis of Wally back at the cave.

"Yeah who doesn't?" she shrugged. Of course, everyone in Gotham had heard of him. With his heritage and money, he could've been king of Gotham ten times over.

"Yeah, they're his kids. Dick's a freshman but already such a charmer." Bette sighed dreamily as she watched the younger boy cackle loudly at his adoptive siblings' scowl as she spilt mayonnaise over her tie.

There was something about the girl's scowl that made Artemis frown. She could've sworn she'd seen that expression before…

"And that Christine girl?"

"Oh, she's alright I guess" Bette shrugged casually "Nerdy, straight-A student. Apparently very good at Ballet. I don't know, I've never seen her in action. Apart from her little troupe over there she's not very sociable. I wouldn't bother trying to approach her."

"Okay?" Artemis frowned, only to roll her eyes as a black-haired girl strode past their table, flanked by three other prissy girls.

"Oh god, slut alert." Artemis murmured, and Bette almost choked on her tuna roll.

Meanwhile, at Christine and Dick's table, the disguised girl wonder groaned.

"Oh no."

"What?" Dick looked up and saw the dark-haired girl and her posse "Shit! Cover for me." he dashed off quickly. Everyone shook their heads in exasperation.

"Coward" Freddy muttered under her breath as the black-haired girl strutted over.

She was pretty there being no doubt, what with her dark hair, pale skin and red lips, thin body and large boobs. All of which were out on full display in a school uniform that seemed two sizes too small on her.

"Hello Candy" Barbara smiled politely, but her eyes were cold.

Candice sneered down her heavily made-up nose at the two of them.

"I thought I smelt a rat" she muttered before turning her back on the redhead. Her cronies tittered behind her in admiration as if she'd just scored a spectacular goal.

"Oh this should be interesting" Bette, and the rest of the cafeteria turned from their friendly chats to watch with interest.

"Is there something you need Candice?" Martin asked his tone pleasant but his eyes full of loathing.

"No, and if I did need something I wouldn't ask a twinkle-toed faggot like you"

"God what a bitch" Artemis whispered disgusted under her breath as some of the thick blockheads cheered from a table.

Poor Martin turned bright red and George stood up abruptly looking ready to punch Candice's lights out. Christine put a hand on his arm and tugged him back down quickly.

"Don't bother, she's not worth it" she muttered low. George and Martin both grimaced but neither made another move.

"Oh. You're still around are you?"

"Obviously" Christine drawled turning back to her sandwich. "If you're looking for Richard he's not here"

"Then where is he?" Candice spat, looking around the table.

"Not here obviously" Barbara mumbled into her juice box.

"Oh really?" Candice sneered folding her arms. "Then why is his bag still here?"

"Uh...Because he's in the loo," Martin grumbled.

"Wasn't asking you twinkles!" Candice snapped only to back away as Christine fixed her with a nasty glower.

"Watch it, Candy. You wouldn't want last year's dirt to spread over  **my**  newspaper, now would you?"

Candice blanched.

"Whatever. I'll find him later, little bitch" she added in an undertone and Christine smirked.

"Rather be a bitch than a dumb slut" she shrugged.

From her table, Artemis nearly choked on her food with laughter.

"You find something funny?" Candice rounded on Artemis who was quick to cover her mouth to hide her snigger.

"Yeah, you" she coughed. "Seriously, what is it with your plastic attitude? Are you auditioning for Mean Girls three or something?"

The whole cafeteria started sniggering.

Christine meanwhile was staring at Artemis in surprise mixed with familiar amusement as Candice flushed a dark red.

"Hey, you're new, here aren't you?" one of the older girl's posse, a rather prissy-looking girl with a pink headband in her dyed blonde hair, frowned at Artemis who smirked.

"Yeah, so? What's it to you?"

"Don't bother with her Julia. This is obviously one of those Wayne Scholarship charity cases. See, look at her, she's probably from the narrows. I bet she washes her clothes in the sewers outside her house." Candice giggled maliciously as she looked over Artemis's standard uniform and less than posh backpack.

_Oh no she didn't!_

Christine's nostrils flared as she caught sight of the blonde archer's hands clenching into fists by her sides.

But before either girl could react, there was a scrambling sound and all eyes turned to see Dick Grayson clambering out from under the table to glare at a now very surprised Candice.

"Richard? What are you doing under there."

"Hiding, from  _you_." Dick spat, not even bothering to put on a polite façade as he glared the older girl down.

"I think you should leave Candy. Don't waste your temper on her Dick; you don't want to be late for History." Christine grunted as she rearranged the books in her bag. "You see guys; my brother has a strict no-dating idiots policy."

Artemis's eyes were wide with astonishment as a positively wicked smirk flitted across the younger girl's "innocent" face as she passed the affronted girl and patted her on the shoulder.

"Later Candy."

"Why you little-" Candice growled.

There were several laughs and giggles as the bell for the end of lunch finally wrung. Candice skulked off, scowling foully as Dick ran over and slung an arm around both Barbara and Christine as they left the cafeteria.

As they and their friends passed Artemis and Bette, Dick's scowl morphed into a smug little smirk as he gave the blond archer a small wink.

"Welcome to Gotham Academy Artemis."

"…Thanks" Artemis frowned slightly. Then it hit her "Hey!"

But the group had already melded into the sea of students. She stared around wildly. How had Grayson known her name?

Meanwhile, outside the cafeteria, Christine and Dick fist bumped quietly behind their friends' backs.

"Good Job" Christine murmured.

"You know the rules. No one messes with our teammates" Dick agreed. "Not even at school"

* * *

_**?, September 22 2010, 14:52 EDT** _

"I see you've only given her the medallion?" the old man in the shadows murmured to the owl masked man before him.

"I told you, I have to play this carefully. If she disappears too suddenly, the Batman and the League will be on our tailfeathers."

"True. But what makes you so sure she hasn't told anyone about your meeting?"

"Because if there's one thing I know about Christine Hallows, it's that she is stubborn." The man in the owl mask folded his arms "She's trying to assert her independence, so she'll keep the truth hidden in an attempt to prove she can handle things for herself."

"Hmph! She truly is a chip off the old block" the man in the shadows smirked. "I suppose all we can do now is wait and see what will happen next. Until then we must do something about your blunder at the Hall of Justice."

"Rest assured father I am already working on a solution" the man in the cowl murmured "It might take a couple of weeks to fully come into effect but it will work I promise you"

"Does this by chance, have anything to do with that spy you have in  _Red Queen's_  forces?" the man in the shadows, pressed his clawed fingers together.

"Oh yes." The masked shadow smirked as he straightened up. "And once he has played his role, even his old  _mistress_ won't know what hit her"

"Good, very good" the man in the shadow's smile widened as a pair of yellow eyes glimmered eerily in the dark.

* * *

_**Gotham Academy, September 22, 15:45 EDT** _

Christine sighed heavily as she quickly made her way into the girl's locker rooms.

_Keep it together Chris, it's just an audition. You've practised all summer, you got this._

She sighed as she took her ballet gear out of her locker and began to change.

_Trust my first day of school to be the same day as the Nutcracker auditions._

She rolled her eyes pulling out her black leotard, gulping as she looked at her reflection in the locker door mirror.

She was still wearing the glamour charm around her neck. It looked like an ordinary thin black choker, set with a small purple stone that sat over her throat. Still, it was quite a shock to see her old dark hair and eyes staring back at her after two months of getting used to her transformation.

_I hope Madame Fletcher doesn't force me to take it off._

She shivered as her fingers trailed around the glamour charm and down to the other two necklaces she had looped around her neck.

One was the chain with her father's military dog-tags, the other was the strange Court of Owl's medallion she had received barely a week ago.

Her fingers lingered on the silver pendant as it glimmered in the artificial light above. She hadn't yet shown it to anyone, not the team, nor Dick, Bruce or even Alfred.

_I'll show it to them when I've got more information. Until then, I observe and record everything that happens just like dad told me._

She told herself as she carefully took off both the medallion and the dog tags and stored them safely in a small pouch which she then hid in the depths of her bag, before stripping off the rest of her uniform.

Even as she stashed them under her sports gear, there came a buzzing from her pocket.

"Damn!" she hissed as she scrambled to get the device and saw a blocked number. Great just what she needed. Her dad is calling her out for an assignment only when the opportunity of a lifetime was at her feet.

"Hello?" she muttered balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she rolled her pink ballet tights up her legs.

 _"_ _Swift, it's me."_ a familiar deep voice spoke into her ear.

"Oh hey, Kaldur? What's up?" Christine sighed in relief as the Atlantean voice murmured.

 _"_ _I've got something important-wait where are you?"_  Kaldur paused his voice grave.

"Yeah, I'm still at school. Don't worry; no one's around" she assured him only to grunt as she finished wriggling into her tights and moved onto pulling her leotard up.

 _"_ _Are you alright? I could call back later-"_  Kaldur sounded unsure, but she just shrugged.

"No-no. It's okay. Actually, it's better you called now. I'm not going to be contactable for most of the evening anyway."

 _"_ _Ah yes, your Ballet auditions. I heard Wally mentioning them yesterday"_  he added quickly, and Christine rolled her eyes. Damn Wally and his big mouth.

"One of these days I'm going to talk with that speedy hamster about the art of subtlety." She snorted, and Kaldur chuckled.

_"_ _Wally's bad secret keeping skills aside, allow me to as you surface dwellers say 'break a leg'. I've seen you practising in the cave, and you're incredible."_

"Oh…th-thanks" Christine felt herself burn hotter than a solar flare and was glad that no one else was around to witness her face turn the colour of an eggplant.

 _"_ _Swift?"_  Kaldur's voice interrupted her stunned silence, and she quickly coughed.

"Oh yes, ahem, sorry. So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

_"_ _I've decided to tell Red Tornado about the mole situation tonight, but seeing as you're not there to give your account, perhaps I should wait till tomorrow-"_

"No-no Kal, we talked about this. We've got to at least tell Tornado about the issue before we tell the Bat-Boss!" she whispered the last word as she heard a couple of girls enter the locker room door behind her back.

 _"_ _I take it you're no longer alone"_  Kaldur murmured into her ear, and she sighed as well.

"Yeah, something like that" Christine sighed as she caught sight of Freddy sneaking up towards her in the corner of her eye.

"Listen, I gotta dash, but you make sure you give Red the message tonight okay?"

_"_ _Okay, and Swift?"_

"Yeah?" Christine gulped as she saw her best friend smirking at her slyly from her locker.

 _"_ _Good luck. You'll be fine."_ Her cheeks flushed as she heard Kaldur's soft smile through the receiver.

"Thanks, and good luck to you too. Message me when you're done telling Red alright."

_"_ _Will do. Goodbye Swift"_

"Bye Kal. Talk to you later." Christine mumbled, and despite herself, the corners of her lips quirked upwards in a small smile.

However, her enjoyment faded as she turned to face a very eager Freddy, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh crap" Christine muttered as her best friend leaned in to smirk in her face.

"Chri~s, Who the hell were you talking to?"

"No one!" Christine gulped quickly stashing her phone away in her bag. "Just a friend from the volunteer gigs I do for Bruce."

" _Just a friend?_ " Freddy gawked at the spot her phone had vanished. "Girl, he made it into the phone. The freaking PHONE! No guy has ever made it into the phone before-"

"Shh! Quiet!" Christine hissed as several girls she recognised to be on Freddy's hockey team glanced in their direction.

Quick as a flash she dragged her back to her locker and whispered. "Listen, we met at one of Bruce's charity galas at the beginning of the summer, and we've kinda been doing volunteer work together ever since."

"Oh yeah, what kind of  ** _volunteering_**?" Freddy mimed quotation marks as she watched her friend quickly pull her hair into a tight bun behind her head.

"Y'know the typical organising charity fundraisers kinda stuff. Anyways, he just called to tell me that he's gonna have to give some news over to one of the other organisers before I go all dark on him this evening."

"Uh-huh right" Freddy rolled her eyes still completely unconvinced at the half-baked lie "Whoever this guy is you must like him a lot to keep him in your phone."

"Uh yeah duh, he's my  **friend** " Christine glowered as she stuck several pins into her bun to tighten it.

"No-no-no-no-no, friends don't blush and giggle all shy and sweet when they hang up on their other friends. Trust me I know" Freddy snorted as her best friend was quick to lock her bag and valuables back into her locker and shoulder her ballet gear under her arm.

"Right, that should do the trick." Christine sighed about to walk out the door only to be stopped as Freddy tugged her back.

"Oh no, you don't. Some bigwigs are coming for your audition today; they'll like to see you looking girly for the part." Freddy quickly snatched the makeup kit from the outer pocket of her friend's bag.

"Are you done?" Christine grumbled irritably as her friend finished applying her gloss and mascara and started to tweeze the long hair growing in the middle of her eyebrows.

"Almost, just hold still-"

"Ow!" Christine winced rubbing her T-zone as Freddy pulled back with a grin.

"Yep, perfect. You're set to go. Now go knock 'em dead."

_Be careful what you wish for_

Christine sighed mentally as with a heavy sigh as she trudged out of the girl's lockers.

Once she was outside the school hall, she stopped, sucking in a deep breath as she caught sight of the short line of girls queued to register in the row.

Amongst them, she saw, to her disgust one of Candices' cronies, Julia standing in her all pink ballet ensemble.

She spared Christine a dirty glare as she took her place at the end of the line, doing her best to ignore the archery group tryouts that were going on behind her back in the quadrangle.

Had she bothered to look around, she might have noticed Artemis sparing her a suspicious glance as she started to stretch her limbs out.

"Next" a tall grey-haired woman with a stern face barked and Christine almost jumped out of her skin. "Sorry Madame Fletcher"

"Ah, Christine, there you are" Madame Fletcher's face softened slightly "I was wondering when you'd show up. You've got your headshots and registration form ready I hope?"

"All here, plus the digital copy of my performance at last year's recital on USB like you asked." Christine reached into her bag and pulled out a yellow manila file labelled  _'Christine Hallows: Ballet documents'_  which she handed to her teacher.

"Everything seems to be in order." The older woman nodded, a small smile gracing her features as she ticked off Christine's name on the list. "Now off with you and good luck."

"Thank you, madame" Christine sucked in a deep breath as she stepped into the assembly hall. Even as she turned her head to look at the shutting doors behind her, she couldn't help but feel as if something was going to go wrong.

_Alright, now let's get this show on the road._

She shook out her head to clear it of the cobwebs, not noticing a shadow disappear from a corner of the hall.

* * *

_**Gotham City, September 22 2010, 18:57 EDT** _

Two shadows in owl masks watched on quietly from a rooftop as a young blonde girl in a green arrow suit walked over towards a disused telephone booth.

"It is confirmed. T.O. Morrow has sent his androids in to attack the young heroes at Mount Justice" one of them, the slightly shorter one with more unadorned black armour whispered as he pulled his finger from the com in his ear.

"Is Swift at the Mountain yet?" the taller shadow with the golden claw murmured and his junior shook his head.

"No, sir."

"Good. That'll make our mission slightly easier" they both fell silent as they watched a short thirteen-year-old boy with black hair and wearing a dark cape over his red and black bodysuit creep up towards the blonde from the shadows.

"Artemis?"

"Gah!" the girl, Artemis, wheeled around to face the Boy Wonder as he suddenly appeared at her side. "Robin! I-uh-"

"How random that you're in Gotham City, instead of Star City where your  _uncle_ Green Arrow lives" Robin smirked wickedly as he looked the now very nervous blonde archer up and down.

"I came to see my cousin" Artemis scratched her head nervously "She was in the state spelling B, here…in Gotham."

"C-o-o-l. Did she w-i-n?" Robin sniggered.

"N.O."

"D-r-a-g"

"Yeah! Let's go to the cave" Artemis scowled irritably at the younger boy whose smirk only widened as he mockingly bowed like a gentleman.

"Ladies first"

"Your town. You go" Artemis put her hands on her hips.

Robin shrugged and quickly opened the out of order phone booth, typing in the cave's co-ordinates before disappearing in a flash of yellow. Artemis sighed, but was quick to follow, leaving the alleyway empty.

Once the zeta tube had deactivated the two shadows leapt down from their high vantage point.

"Make it quick" the taller shadow grunted gruffly as his junior made to open up the door to the hidden portal.

"Already on it" the younger man smirked under his cowl as his fingers flew across the zeta tubes holographic keyboard.

After a minute of furious typing, he straightened up and smirked. "Done. Mount Justice is officially offline. No one can get in. And no one can get out"

"Good work" his superior nodded approvingly. "Now we move onto phase two"

* * *

"So, you and this Kal guy?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake would you just let that drop."

Christine was at Freddy's house in her room. It was a large room decorated in a lot of bright yellows and creams. Her bed even had a Pikachu quilt over it with matching pillowcases.

They'd played video games, fussed over Freddy's new baby sister Emily. The little infant was adorable and like her sister and parents was a little blonde angel. Christine didn't think she'd ever seen a sister so doting or so caring as Freddy, who was positively smitten and could even, to her best friend's admiration, bear to change the little tykes' diapers no matter how stinky they were.

Now it was evening and they'd both finally finished their homework, which had only been done at Aunt Jacqueline's insistence to keep the two of them quiet while Emily took a pre-dinner nap.

Freddy was in her PJ's, and Christine was still in her Ballet gear doing her best to ignore her best friend's teasing smirks and pokes when her phone rang on the desk.

"Ooh, another call from Kal, the guy really must dig you." Freddy mouthed, and Christine rolled her eyes as she reached down to connect to the call.

"Hello?" she quickly stood up and walked into the en-suite bathroom.

"Hello Christine" a familiar deep scrambled voice spoke into her ear. "Remember me."

"Chris? Is everything okay?" Freddy's face fell into worry as her friend quickly shut the bathroom door on her.

"What do you want?" she hissed once she had locked the door.

"Your friends at Mount Justice are in danger" The scrambled voice murmured urgently.

"What did you do to them?" she hissed, and the voice sighed.

"I did nothing. You remember what I told you about your mother hatching a plot?"

Christine's face paled the colour of parchment.

"You said they were at the mountain correct?"

"Correct." The scrambled voice grunted on the other end "You should get a move on now. You don't have much time to save them."

"Hey wait a moment-"

But too late. He'd already hung up on her.

_Damn it!_

She growled as she dashed out of her friends' bathroom door.

"Sorry Freds, gotta dash. Family emergency."

"What you mean the normal family emergency or a real  ** _family_**   _emergency?_ " Freddy rolled her eyes, and Christine narrowed hers.

"The latter."

"Oh. Alright…" Freddy's face fell to the floor. Christine sighed and reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, I know it's tough but if I don't go-"

"Yeah-yeah! I know. End of the world and all that jazz I get it." Freddy folded her arms with a pout "Just make sure you're still alive when I call you tomorrow kay?"

"Kay" Christine quickly reached out to hug her before dashing out of the room all her gear in hand. She didn't even bother to stop as Freddy's family butler called after her.

"Miss Hallows is everything alright."

"Everything's fine Bertie!" Christine snapped as she quickly put her com in her ear.

"Come on Alfred pick up" She hissed as she walked out the front door and out into the front courtyard of the large house.

However, no matter how hard she tried, her comlink just wouldn't connect through to anywhere.

"Dammit! Come on Alfie!" she hissed as she quickly ran into a clump of bushes. As quick as she could she began to pull on her Swift suit over the top of her ballet leotard and tights, shedding only her pointe shoes which she threw into her bag along with the black and purple glamour charm.

"Screw this" she grunted as tucking her dog tags and the Owl medallion under the top of her suit as she zipped it up at the front, only to curse as she remembered:

_Wait. Dad's taken the Batwing for a league mission-SHIT!_

She quickly checked the Batcave's status on her holo-computer. The Batmobile was still awaiting repairs from last week's explosive encounter with the Joker. Double damn.

She growled to herself as she pulled on her black and purple cowl.

"Two minutes to get suited up. I'm impressed" a scrambled voice smirked behind her.

"I'm not" Christine rolled her eyes as she clipped on her purple utility belt and garters.

The owl masked man behind her merely folded his arms.

"So how are you going to reach your friends if your mentor has taken his plane?"

"I'm going to have to Zeta-tube it," Christine mumbled as she checked her co-ordinates

"The nearest Zeta tube is twenty minutes away in your Batcave." The shadow snorted "You'll never reach it in time to get to your friends."

"Oh yeah. Watch me" Christine growled as she pulled something that looked like a metallic backpack from the largest compartment of her duffel bag.

_Thank god Dick took my real school bag home when Alfie came for him. Or else this would've been heavy._

There was a loud sound of metal plates moving as the X shaped straps slipped out of the pack which suddenly extended into a pair of full black and purple wings that connected to her arms.

"I see you've made some modifications to the design. _"_  the masked shadow nodded in approval. Quietly he watched the young girl zip up her bag and position the strap across her back with the bag strapped tightly over her front.

"Man, you have no idea", Christine smirked proudly as she crouched low to the ground. With a great push, she propelled herself into a high jump at the top of which she unleashed a large gust of wind from her super breath.

With a large beat of her arms and another large breath, she propelled herself into the air, bobbing a little as she tried to balance the new weight over her chest.

She'd never flown carrying anything before; she'd have to be careful not to stack it when landing.

Meanwhile down on the ground, the man in the owl mask allowed himself a small chuckle.

"Hmm, very impressive indeed."

Alfred Pennyworth wasn't a man easily rattled. Life amongst masked vigilante's tended to give one a rather tough shell. There were some small times his worry got the better of him. Like when the young teenage girl with mechanical wings almost crashed into the Batcave computer.

"Miss Christine are you alright?" the old butler rushed over to where his young charge had landed face first into the ground before the giant machine.

"I'm fine Alf. Just need to work on my landing" Christine panted as she got to her feet. "I need to use the Zeta tube. There's an emergency at the Mountain."

"Are you sure young miss?" Alfred quirked a confused brow "There haven't been any alerts triggered here."

"Maybe not on the Batcomputer but check this out." Christine snatched her phone out of the bag on her front where several missed messages from Dick and the rest of her team blared out at her in a red alert.

"My word" Alfred's face paled.

"I know. I've tried picking up their messages, but something keeps blocking me on my end. We need to contact dad" Christine quickly dashed to the Bat-computer and opened up a communications link.

"Swift to Batman. Dad! Come on pick up!" she hissed as she kept on hitting the call button.

It took her a good two minutes but eventually, the face of her mentor filled the screen, glowering down at her. From what she could see of the feed's background he seemed to be in the Batwing.

" _Swift, what's wrong_?"

"Dad I've just received several distress signals from Robin's holo-computer-"

 _"_ _I know, he's tried contacting me too."_  Batman growled,  _"but all I get when I try connecting to him is-"_

"Static?" Christine finished, and he nodded. "Yeah, that's all I've gotten too. And it's not just him. No one on the team is picking up their coms."

" _That's because the Cave at Mount Justice is completely offline too. Even the Watchtower cannot connect to any of them_ " Batman explained.

"And I cannot remotely access the Mount Justice security system." Alfred piped in from where he was typing in at the computer. "Also I should report all Zeta Tubes in the Happy Harbour area seem to be offline also."

Christine's blood chilled to ice in her veins.

"We need to get to the mountain" her fists clenched as she dumped her bag on the ground "Now as quick as possible."

 _"_ _No. The league will go to Mount Justice. You will stay with Alfred in the Batcave."_  Batman's eyes narrowed.

"But they're my team; I can't just sit back and wait here! Besides, I know that cave like the back of my hand!" Christine cried out.

"I agree with the young mistress." Alfred nodded unexpectedly "Perhaps it might be safer for her to accompany you. Her knowledge of her team and the mountain might prove valuable."

Christine stared at Alfred in shock. It wasn't often that Alfred ever sided with her or Dick when it came to Batman's orders. Usually, he kept silent when it came to the matters of their safety, reserving his opinions unless necessary.

Seeing as neither his goddaughter or butler was going to back down, the

 _"_ _Alright, fine you may come. Take a Zeta Tube to the Hall of Justice and I'll rendezvous with you there, do you understand?_ "

Christine pouted moodily. She hadn't been back to the Hall since the shooting two weeks ago, and she wasn't looking forward to going back.

" _Christine, do you understand?_ "

"Alright fine." she mumbled grumpily "I'll meet you there" she heard the click of the com, as it turned off on the other end and turned to Alfred.

"Thank's for the backup Alfie."

"Any time Miss Christine." The old butler's eyes softened "Now go. Save your friends and bring Master Dick back safe and sound."

"Sir yes sir" Christine playfully saluted him as she dashed down towards the Batcave's Zeta tubes.

Alfred sighed and shook his head.

_They grow up so fast._

* * *

_**Happy Harbour, September 22 2010, 21:32 EDT** _

Christine was flying outside in the dark night sky in front of Wonder Woman, Superman, Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter whilst Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Batman flew in the Batplane.

"Woah!" she cried out as a rogue gust of wind nearly unsettled her mechanical wings.

"Easy Swift, you must relax into the wind rather than fight it," Wonder Woman said gently as she flew up beside the young sidekick.

"I know it's just…I've never actually flown this high before, agh!" Christine gulped as she juddered midair again. Frantically she puffed out another super breath to steady herself, doing her best not to look down at the massive drop between herself and the ground far below.

"I know, it took me a while to get used to it too when I first started" the Amazon princess smirked "I found the best thing to do is to look forward and not look down"

"Forwards not down. Right got it" Christine bit her lip nervously as she looked up ahead. She could see the dark outline of Mount Justice in the distance, standing tall and silent in the night.

_Guys, help's coming hold on._

She thought, hoping against hope that somehow M'gann at least could hear her thoughts.

Superman glanced at her worriedly. He'd never seen the girl wonder so on edge before.

"Christine I'm sure that they're fi-"

 _Shut it Clark_  Bruce hissed through the mental link Martian Manhunter had established between all the leaguers.

_Hey I'm just trying to help_

_I know. But when things are like this, don't tell her things are going to be okay. It'll just make it worse. Trust me… I've tried_

Superman scowled angrily wondering what Batman meant when there was a loud clap of thunder. Then suddenly, something flashed across his vision.

_He was staring through what appeared to be liquid and a layer of glass. On the other side, two figures were talking. One of them was in a white suit and wore a black hooded cape which shrouded a white masked face. A wrinkled, pale claw-like hand reached up to press against the glass of the tank, murmuring something indistinctly as a small baby's hand reached out through the liquid towards it-then suddenly there was a jolt of pain as what felt like lightning shot through his veins._

"AHGH!" Superman's eyes flew open. He was now flying through a massive storm. Torrents of rain came thundering down from dark swirling clouds that had not been there moments before.

"What is going on?" Captain Atom yelled in shock. Martian Manhunter was clutching his head in agony.

"J'onn!" Wonder Woman flew over, but the Martian Man shook his head.

"No, not me! Help her!" He pointed with one hand towards Christine who had suddenly, horribly begun to fall.

Superman barely heard the almost terrified cry from Dinah in his com and immediately pushed himself into a perfectly controlled dive.

She was way further than he'd initially thought was and gaining even more speed as gravity pulled her down.

"Come on" he hissed pushing himself against the wind which pressed against him like pressurised water. He had to catch her. Not just for her safety but Bruce's sanity as well. He shuddered to think what would happen to the Bat if he should lose another member of his family.

He was gaining on her now. He stretched out his arms. He was almost there. He was touching her fingers. He could reach her arms.

He grabbed her close and pulled up sharply. He winced as his feet skimmed the tops of the trees that fell once again beneath them as he rose back up into the air.

The Bat-plane's ramp opened, and he flew inside at once.

As it closed, Batman switched the plane into autopilot and ran towards them.

"I got her" he puffed as Batman tore off his cowl, dark blue eyes wide and panic-stricken.

Without a word of thanks, Bruce took Christine out of Superman's hold and placed her on the floor to check her vitals. Barry, Dinah and Oliver all rushed over to look over his shoulder worriedly. After a few moments, he mumbled softly.

"She's just unconscious."

There was a shared sigh of relief.

"What the hell just happened?" Dinah slumped back into her seat her head in her hands. Oliver knelt beside his girlfriend rubbing her shoulder consolingly.

"I do not know. But that was an intense experience" J'onn also slumped back into his seat but had closed his eyes and was concentrating on his breathing. Barry, Captain Adams and Diana all turned to look out the windows. Superman kept his eyes on Bruce as the dark clad man stared down at the girl in his arms.

"The…the mountain" Barry's voice was dry as he pointed out the window. They all went back and strapped themselves into their seats. The Bat plane was aiming for a clearing in the tree's close to the mountain.

As they descended Christine groaned in her sleep from the air pressure. However, she seemed to be much calmer now that she was with him.

"Bruce" she murmured as she stirred somewhere between the worlds of waking and sleep.

"We can't take her in with us" Dinah shook her head from where she sat. "Whatever we saw in her head took a lot out of her."

"I know," Bruce pulled up the cowl again "Which is why someone has to stay here with her and man the coms from here. The rest of us must deal with what's inside.

"Flash, Green Arrow, Captain Atom and Superman should go inside" Dinah nodded.

"Hey, why us?" the four superheroes cried out in unison.

"Keep it down?" Diana hissed gesturing to the girl in Batman's arms. They all nodded quickly, muttering their apologies.

"Superman and Captain Atom because of strength and invulnerability Flash for speed and Green Arrow for long distance fighting" she whispered.

"Then by technicality shouldn't Batman, Martian Manhunter or Black Canary be going for stealth?" Flash raised an eyebrow.

Batman shifted uncomfortably in his seat quickly glancing down at Christine. Diana walked over calmly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I will stay with her"

Batman looked up at her eyes narrowed.

"You don't trust me?" she raised her eyebrows dangerously.

Every male in the room gulped nervously, including Batman but he recovered quickly.

"It's not that…She's been a bit on edge with everything going on. Add Dick and me being in possible danger and she'll be…" He sighed. "Alright just be sure to stay with her twenty-four seven until I get back."

He gently deposited his partner back down to lay on the floor, as Diana kneeled beside her.

"I'll keep her safe Bruce; you have my word" the Amazon nodded as the Bat joined the others on the ground.

"Twenty-four seven?" Flash snorted as soon as the ramp was closed "I know she's your kid Bruce but isn't that a tad extreme?"

"If you don't keep a watch on her like a hawk she'll try and run into the fight no matter how tired she is" Superman explained with a shrug.

Batman nodded keeping his eyes on the side of the mountain where the "front door" was positioned. He pulled up his holo-computer and hacked into the systems. He didn't want the computer to alert their enemy too soon to their presence.

The grassy ramp slid down, and they quietly rushed down. They hid along the walls and shadows as Martian Manhunter tried to scan telepathically for the Team's presence.

_They're here!_

He cried out.

_Where?_

All the other mentors asked at once.

_The hangar, there is no other presence_

_Not even one hiding their mind?_ Batman narrowed his eyes. Martian Manhunter shook his head but stiffened suddenly. The small patter of feet reached Superman's ears.

"Bruce" he whispered just as the Bat twitched as if to make a move.

"What?" Batman hissed in irritation but then he paused. He'd heard it too. A tiny sharp intake of breath from behind them.

"Get back to the plane" he growled turning as Christine peered around a corner behind him.

"No" she glared as she descended the ramp softly followed by a very disgruntled Wonder Woman. The Amazon princess gave Batman an apologetic look before joining Dinah at the back.

"You're still shaking," Batman grunted at his goddaughter, his anger and worry mounting.

"It'll wear off in five minutes. Besides, you'll need my help. I'm the only one here small enough to get through the ventilation shafts without setting off any of the alarms" she shrugged, only to glower up at her godfather as he continued to glare at her.

"What? You think I didn't think this through? I said I'd come with you-"

"And I said to get back to the Batwing. Now! That's an order."

"My friends are in there" she hissed. "And I don't care what you say I'm not going to leave them behind."

"Christine," Batman growled as raised himself up to his full, rather startling, height.

"Uh Bats, Kid. I hate to break this to you, but we really don't have the time for all this Angry Dad and teen rebellion stuff." Flash hissed, flinching as both sets of white slits narrowed dangerously down at him.

"Don't call me kid" Christine hissed softly. "I'm going in"

And before her mentor or anyone could say anything else she dashed into the Mountain.

"Damn" Green Arrow raised his eyebrows as they saw her slip into the main hall's shadows. "She's unrulier than Roy was at this age"

"Ollie" Black Canary elbowed her boyfriend hard in the ribs as Batman turned his back on all of them.

 _Agh! That girl!_ They heard the Dark Knight growl through Martian Manhunter's mental link.  _Why does she have to be so stubborn?_

It didn't take Christine long to find her team. They were in the mountain's enormous hangar bay/garage, all bruised battered and unconscious.

"Holy shit! GUYS!" she rushed over frantically reaching Robin who was closest to her.

She placed her fingers on his neck and felt his soft pulse before placing her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and feel his ribcage rise and fall with each breath. There was a tiny groan close to her ear.

"Dick, oh thank god!" She pulled away, sighing in relief as the white lenses of Robin's mask widened slowly.

"Christine" He coughed and spluttered, his throat sounding very dry indeed. He struggled slightly as he sat up "Red…Red Tornado he-"

"Shh…Dick, it's ok" Christine gently stroked the mop of black away from his forehead.

The sound of footsteps behind her and she turned as the other Leaguers passed them also went over to their sidekick's sides and checked their vitals. Flash and Black Canary went over to Wally and Conner who were both held up by a hardened grey cement-like mass. Superman shuffled nervously before heading over to Artemis and shaking her shoulder gently. Wonder Woman and Green Arrow quickly made to look around the corners of the cave for any sign of the attack as Captain Atom examined the heat ray. M'gann was revived telepathically by her uncle as Aquaman used his water sorcery on the small pool below the hangar bay platform, to gently spray Kaldur's dangerously dry skin.

With a gasp, the Atlantean boy revived almost instantly and immediately sat up. He saw Robin awake and cried out.

"What? Where did Red Tornado go?"

"Peace Kaldur'ahm. You're all safe now." Aquaman put a hand on his protégé's shoulder.

"What happened?" Batman strode over to where Christine was helping Robin sit up.

"Red Tornado…has …siblings." he panted, gulping down much-needed air into his raspy throat.

"What do you mean  **siblings**?" Batman narrowed his eyes.

"Same creator, different robots, different abilities" He leaned heavily on his partner as she pulled him up to stand.

"What abilities?" Christine kept a tight grip on him as he swayed slightly. It was then she noticed that he was missing his cape and he had a large bruise blooming over his lower left jaw.

"One was pyro and the other hydro" he scowled rubbing his chin "Artemis, and I managed to bring them both down with an EMP burst, using the main generator. Then Red Tornado came and he…he…"

He coughed, clutching at his dry throat.

"One of them must've had a virus implanted because when Red Tornado tried to scan them he turned on us." Kaldur finished calmly as he finally shook off the last of his own disorientation.

Batman's eyes widened in shock.

"Do you know where he went?"

The two boys shook their heads in unison as two loud gasps announced Wally and Conner's awakening.

"It's alright for now" Aquaman put a consoling hand on Kaldur's shoulder "at least the six of you are alright"

They coughed and hacked violently as Captain Atom managed to get the heat ray working, just as Superman managed to rouse Artemis awake.

"Artemis! Artemis can you hear me?"

The blonde archer's eyes opened slowly.

"She's alright" He turned to the others as he pulled her to her feet easily. She looked around the room'

"What happened?"

"What happened? The Red's happened" She snapped at the Man of Steel brushing herself off of him "Red Tornado and his- wait where are they?" She looked around worriedly.

"Gone" Robin turned around gravely.

"All three of them gone. Oh!" he clutched his head as he swayed dangerously.

"Damn it" he hissed under his breath as Christine pulled his arm around her shoulders to bear his weight.

"Swift. Take Robin back to the Cave's medical centre and check him over. That goes for the rest of you too" he turned to the other members of the team who all nodded wearily

"On it. Come on Wonder Boy, up you get." Christine nodded and heaved Robin back to his feet. As she and her team hobbled towards the door of the hangar bay, she chanced a glance back.

Batman and the rest of the justice leaguers were all standing in a tightly bound circle, murmuring furiously. Despite her enhanced hearing, she could only hear snippets of the conversations.

"Tornado can't have gotten far-"

"-that doesn't explain how the other androids got in before he returned to the cave"

"Do you think he let them in?"

"Maybe it wasn't Red Tornado but a copy-"

"Where were you?" Robin's voice cut through her eavesdropping as they finally left the hangar.

"What?" She blinked in surprise.

"I tried calling you ten times" he grumbled, "And you didn't respond."

"All cave communications were down." She rolled her eyes before adding in a quiet murmur. "And I had shut my phone off for the audition remember?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot, how did it go?" he asked distractedly as they awkwardly led their teammates up to the infirmary.

"I don't know." Christine admitted "I mean I did my best but I won't know until I get a callback… _if_ I get one that is" she added dully.

"I'm sure you did fine" Wally grumbled as he passed her by, patting her on the shoulder.

"But that still doesn't change the fact that you'd gone completely dark on us! Red Tornado and his relatives almost killed us! We really could've used your help!" Artemis scowled from behind folding her arms crossly as they finally entered the sterile white-walled medical bay.

"Listen, I'm sorry alright! I know what I did was dumb, but I did honestly try calling you guys back, but all I got was static! That's why I called Batman. I didn't know how else to get to you." Christine growled in frustration as she helped deposit Robin onto a nearby medical bed.

But Artemis was not convinced and had opened her mouth to retort, only to get held back by Kaldur.

"That's enough, what's done is done. We can't change what happened."

"Kaldur's right" M'gann murmured from the medical bed Conner had helped settle her into. Her green skin looked sickly pale and sticky from sweat, and she was still very woozy as she said "We can't keep fighting like this. That's just what the enemy wants-oh…"

"M'gann," Conner grasped at M'gann's hand as a wave of dizziness hit her.

"I'm okay…I just need to sleep it off" the martian girl sighed tiredly.

"That's a good idea." Kaldur nodded as he watched the rest of his team start to yawn "In fact, we could all use some rest tonight."

* * *

_**?, September 22 2010, 22:12 EDT** _

"Well done my son" the masked man in the shadows smirked "It would seem your plan to bring the girl into the fold is going to plan"

"I told you" the man in the owl cowl smirked folding his arms. "Anyone can merely kidnap and brainwash, but what would happen if that hold was broken. The hurt of betrayal would only spur them into rebellion. If we are to make her truly loyal, we will need her to trust us utterly and completely"

"So now what do you suppose we do next?" the old man drummed his claw-like fingers on his desk.

"Now we watch and wait. The one really responsible for the attack on the Mountain is sure to try their luck soon. And when they do, we must be ready to protect her at all cost"

The man in the shadows smirked. Finally, everything was going as planned

* * *

_**Mount Justice, September 23, 2010, 02:29 EDT** _

The entire mountain was silent as all the cave's resident teammates fell asleep in the safety of the medical ward.

All save one. Dick Grayson frowned up at the ceiling, his mask still over his eyes.

His partner Christine had just snuck out of the infirmary rather sneakily even by her usual standards.

_Something's up with her_

He mused as he turned over in the medical bed he'd taken for the night.

_Something's rattled her bad. I've never seen her this antsy since-wait what's that?_

The Boy Wonder quickly shut his eyes, leaving one of them just a crack open to watch as someone passed by his bed.

_Kaldur? What's he up to now?_

The boy wonder thought suspiciously as the Atlantean quietly crept out of the room. Dick had to admit; the older boy could move quite quietly when he wanted to. But the Robin was better.

As silent as a shadow, he slipped out of bed to follow Kaldur's footsteps, keeping his distance as he tracked him down all the way into the hallway where all the team's bedrooms were situated.

He was quick to stop around a corner as Kaldur came to a pause.

_What is he-oh!_

Dick frowned as he caught sight of Christine quickly poking her head out from her bedroom door to Kaldur's right.

"I got your message" the Atlantean whispered "What's wrong? You said it might be urgent."

"It is." Christine murmured as she shut the door behind herself. "I just found this on my pillow."

Dick's breath caught in his chest as he caught sight of the object in his partner's pale hand. It was a red mahogany chess piece.

"A pawn?" Kaldur frowned as he took the piece in his hands.

"Not just any pawn. It's a message from Red Queen"

"You mean the-"

"The Red Queen of the Hand of Eight. Yes. Her." Christine nodded solemnly.

"But why would a powerful adversary such as she, leave  **you**  a threat? Why not the league or the Batman?" Kaldur frowned. "What connection do the two of you have?"

_Chris, wait, what are you doing?_

Dick's eyes widened behind his mask as he watched his partner suck in a huge breath.

"Listen Kal…I want to tell you, but you must promise me something. What I say here and now must stay a secret. The only reason I'm telling  _you_  right now is because-well-because of what we heard in Taipei and-"

"I understand" Kaldur muttered. "And I give you my word; I will never betray your confidence."

 _Wait, Taipei? What happened in Taipei?_  Dick's brain was a whir of questions that only grew in number as Christine bit her lip and whispered:

"Red Queen is my mother. My real birth mother."

"What?" Kaldur's jaw almost dropped in shock.

"Yeah…I know" Christine rolled her eyes "Years ago when I was a baby, my father, my birth-father, not Batman, and my mom, Red Queen, divorced. I was too young to remember anything, but somehow my dad got full custody of me and stripped her of all the entitlements she got when marrying him."

"I can imagine she was not too pleased with the outcome." Kaldur murmured and Christine snorted.

"Quite. So my parents divorced and my lovely mother, bitter world dominating bitch that she is, did everything she could to make my father's and my lives difficult. And I mean everything, including having me kidnapped and held to ransom one time, but that's not important." She quickly waved Kaldur off before he could open his mouth to comment. "the point is…I wouldn't put it past her to be one of the people behind the attack today and probably more."

"You mean when Sportsmaster said-"

"Yeah…that" Christine ran a hand through her messy white locks "Sorry…I know this is a lot to take in right now…but I thought it would be a good idea to clear the air before we approach Batman tomorrow-"

"No, it's fine. I'm glad you told me" Kaldur admitted as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder "You've been very distracted recently, and when you didn't pick up our distress beacon I was worried that-"

"You thought that I was the one, didn't you?" Christine looked down at the ground ashamedly. "No-it's okay. I understand. With all this mystery we have to be cautious. And I am sorry I didn't pick up any of your distress signals. If I had known-"

"I wasn't worried that you had betrayed us," Kaldur whispered as he moved the hand on her shoulder to her chin, tilting her face upwards so that her yellow eyes looked directly into his pale green ones. "I was worried that they'd gotten to you too outside of the cave."

_Crap. Not this again!_

Dick's nostrils flared as he watched his partner flush and smiled shyly.

"Seriously, how are you still single with that one-liner up your sleeve?" She giggled, leaning into his webbed hand which opened to ghost over her cheek.

"Perhaps because you overestimate my prowess" Kaldur chuckled, though Dick could see his ears had gone pink as Christine smirked and playfully poked him in the chest.

"Or maybe you underestimate yourself"

_Oh, no-oh no-no-no-no-no! That's it!_

The Boy Wonder straightened up and was about to step around the corner when a pair of footsteps suddenly thudded into being from the other darkened end of the corridor.

"D-Dad!" Christine bleated, and Dick was relieved and amused to see the Dark Knight suddenly emerge from the shadows, tall and threatening.

"I thought I told you to stay in the infirmary with the rest of your team" he growled, sparing a rather hard glare on the Atlantean boy as he jumped away from his young protégé.

"Apologies Batman, but Swift has found something that might be pertinent to today's attack." Kaldur coughed looking sidelong at Christine, who quickly held up the red pawn for all to see.

"it was on my pillow in my room" She jerked her thumb at the door of her room behind her

Batman's eyes narrowed as he took the piece from her and inspected it closely.

After a full minute of silence, he sighed.

"We'll talk more about this in the morning. Until then go back to the infirmary. You have a mission tomorrow and you'll need your rest."

"Of course" Kaldur and Christine both nodded, and Dick gulped. Damn! He had to get a move on before anyone spotted him out of bed.

He was quick to dash back silently to the infirmary, only just leaping into bed and pulling the covers over himself as Kaldur and Christine entered the room, the latter sighing heavily.

"I'm sorry about my dad. He's a bit y'know overprotective sometimes" she whispered as they made their way over to two empty beds at the far end of the room that faced opposite one another.

"Yes, I know. Your other partner is also quite defensive of you as well." Kaldur snorted and Christine scratched the back of her neck awkwardly as she hopped into one of the beds.

"Yeah well…Rob's thinks because dad's not here he has to be the  ** _man of the house_**  and guard me against all the guys." She rolled her eyes "Don't get me wrong, I love both those idiots to death but sometimes it can be, stifling."

"I don't know. I actually find it quite endearing that you have a family that loves you so much." Kaldur admitted as he sat on the one opposite her.

"Yeah…I guess I'm pretty lucky" Christine smiled to herself as she lay her head down on her pillow and yawned. "Oh well, Goodnight Kal."

"Goodnight Swift" Kaldur smirked as he too settled in for the night, not noticing the narrowed eyes of the boy wonder drilling holes into his back.

In the bed next to Dick, Wally cracked open an eye and shook his head.

_Dude you need to take a chill._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah we get to see Christine and Dick at school. I'm rather enjoying writing Christine in her life outside the cave. I figure she'd be the kind of person who is prickly around new people but is close to the few friends she has. She just hangs back and lets Dick be the social butterfly that he is.
> 
> Speaking of relationships, she and Kaldur are getting close ;). She's not yet told him about her full secret ID, but I think given after what they heard about the team's mole, she would want to keep herself above suspicion, even if it means revealing a few of her secrets and incurring the wrath of both her partners. Yeah, Robin's still very overprotective but we shall discover why very soon ;)
> 
> Anyways I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this reboot is progressing as this 2018 version will be the final edit of the fic, any events you see here might be referenced in the sequel Young Injustice.
> 
> So with that in mind, keep Reading and reviewing if you enjoyed and I hope to see you all next time.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	13. Alpha Male

**_Mount Justice, September 23 2010, 06:34 EDT_ **

Miss Martian, Superboy, Kid Flash and Artemis all watched as Robin pouted in his seat. Swift and Aqualad were both talking to Batman on the other side of the cave in hushed voices.

The Boy Wonder felt rather put out at being excluded. For one thing, Christine and Bruce were his partners, why should they keep any secrets from him? And secondly, why were Christine and Kaldur so chummy suddenly? Just what had gone on in Taipei? And since when did she get so comfortable sharing her secrets with the Atlantean?

He was distracted briefly as Green Arrow came by and set a bowl of dry muesli in front of them as if hoping the presence of food would change the horrible mood. Unfortunately for him…

"Thanks, but no thanks" Kid pushed the bowl away.

"Yeah what we want are answers. About Red Tornado and his siblings", the Boy Wonder glared at Green Arrow.

"Exactly! Leave the bowl" Kid quickly grabbed at the green archer's wrist to stop him taking the food away.

He shoved a couple of handfuls in his mouth, earning a disgusted look from Artemis in the process. He rolled his eyes at her before turning to Robin. If things were normal he would've been sniggering at the two of them, but he was still glaring at the backs of their team leader and his two partners.

Superboy too was suspicious as he trained his super hearing on the conversation.

"-during the Taipei mission with Red Arrow." Aqualad was saying softly "Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the team. In light of last night's attack Tornado would appear to be the traitor. But whether he betrayed us willingly or was preprogrammed to steal-"

"You knew?!"

"Conner?!" Swift immediately jolted backwards in shock as the super clone practically threw himself at Kaldur. He caught him by the scruff of his uniform and pressed his forearm painfully against his gilled throat.

"That Android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"

"Conner! What are you doing?" Miss Martian cried out as she flew over towards them.

"M'gann stop" Swift grabbed her friend's hand to hold her back from entering the range of the clone's arms. No matter how much he cared for his friends, it never did bode well to cross Superboy when he was angry, and boy was he pissed now as he roared:

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!"

"What? You knew?"

"And you didn't tell us?"

Kid Flash and Robin both sounded just as affronted by the news. Kaldur gritted his teeth as if willing himself not to yell.

"I sought to protect the team from-"

"Protect us from what?! Knowledge that might've saved our lives?" Artemis was positively seething.

"You almost died!" Superboy tightened his grip on Aqualad's tunic.

"Enough!" Batman and Swift barked in unison. Everyone turned as Swift quickly avoided her mentor's eye. He hadn't been pleased with her telling Aqualad about her mother or her past. He was still also slightly angry at her about the rebellious attitude she'd given him before they'd found her teammates. If the stern lecture she received earlier that morning was anything to go by, she was dangerously close to being benched from fieldwork again.

It was with a sheepish glance down to her toes that she mumbled:

"Sorry, you go ahead"

_Yikes looks like Daddy and his little princess are still walking on eggshells with one another._

Green Arrow scratched his chin and exchanged a worried look with Black Canary who nodded once in acknowledgement.

Meanwhile, the aggravated teenagers all lined up under the Batman's stern gaze.

M'gann glanced down at Swift. She'd obviously known about the whole mole thing too but unlike Kaldur who was maintaining a guarded front, guilt leaked from every pore of the younger girl's being. But there was also something else…

There was a silence as Batman narrowed his eyes down at the team.

"With Red Tornado…missing. The team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift" Batman quickly looked over his two partners as a large tall man in a red suit with a white cape strode forwards with a great big spring in his step.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys" he grinned totally ignoring how tense they were.

"After I dismantle Red Tornado" Superboy hissed to Aqualad venomously "you and I are gonna-"

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League, that makes him a  _League_  responsibility. You  **will**  leave him to us" Batman glared down at Superboy who flinched at the tones and skulked back to stand between Swift and Miss Martian.

Satisfied that he'd finally gotten through to the Super clone Batman allowed himself a small smirk.

"I have another assignment for this team"

He pulled up a holographic screen covered with several news articles the most recent being about the Gotham Mayor.

"Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerrilla Gorilla" Kid Flash snorted in exasperation.

_Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?_

Superboy asked Miss Martian and the team telepathically.

_Was that the only stupid headline they could come up with?_

The pair both looked down at Swift. Her face was still stony but they felt her usual cynicism through the mental link. The corners of Miss Martian's lips twitched. That was the first time she'd responded to them at all today.

"Batman please," Robin stepped forwards still rather pissed off "tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase?"

The glare Robin received was so dark that even he shrunk away slightly.

"I never joke about the mission"

Batman straightened up

"I've checked the sources, I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hills encounter was only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad" He turned to the Atlantian boy who stood to attention at once "you and your team will depart for India and check this out"

As soon as Aqualad nodded everyone made their way past him, not even waiting to be properly dismissed.

"Pfft!  _Your_  team" Kid sneered as he passed his team leader.

"Give them time" Swift murmured, patting his shoulder comfortingly as she passed him by. She was the first to reach the Bio ship and she would've slammed into the back door if Miss Martian hadn't followed her in a rush to open it.

Miss Martian and Artemis exchanged glances as she immediately sat in her spot on the right pulling up a screen with all the data of the reports. Superboy quickly came behind them glaring at her back.

"I can't believe  _she_  also was in on this" he grumbled.

"Actually, I'm not really that surprised" Artemis rolled her eyes "She's a bat. Keeping secrets is what they do best"

"Y'know she can hear you" M'gann scowled at the archer and the super boy in disappointment "And you shouldn't be so hard on her. Unlike Kaldur she really didn't think any of us could be the mole."

"Then why did she keep the secret?" Conner frowned in confusion.

"Isn't it obvious?" Artemis folded her eyes as she jerked her head towards the Bioships exit where Kaldur was talking with Captain Marvel.

"I don't believe it." Conner rolled his eyes "What does she even see in that-that-" his voice dulled down to vicious mutterings.

M'gann sighed listening as Captain Marvel talked with Robin and Kid Flash outside. Great, they were being babysat on missions too?

There was a pause as Robin strode up to the front of the bioship, completely ignoring his partner as she tried to give him an update on the mission parameters.

_Oh great, now he's pissed at me?! First dad, now dick? What's wrong with me?_

Swift felt something tap her other shoulder and she turned. Kid Flash sat in a seat diagonally in front, his mouth full of food.

"So whatcha got?" he said, crumbs flying out of his mouth.

"Mission parameters, maps. Y'know the usual" Swift muttered, brushing the scraps from her shoulders. "Aren't you mad at me too? I was in on the whole mole secret?"

"I am…but not as much as I am with Kaldur." The speedster all but spat out their leader's name in disgust "Besides, Rob told me about the chess piece you found last night from you know who." He murmured and was not disappointed to see the girl wonder's nostrils flare angrily.

"So, he was spying on me last night. I knew it!" Swift hissed, glowering at her partner's caped back. "So, go on tell me, what else has wonder boy ratted me out on?"

"Only that you and our  _oh-so-trusting_ leader were flirting" Kid Flash rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what you see in that guy-"

"Is none of your business." Swift snapped. "Like it's none of yours" she added glaring at Superboy, Artemis and M'gann who had been not so subtly trying to eavesdrop on their entire conversation.

They all turned away quickly and despite herself, Christine couldn't help but smirk. Being team lieutenant certainly had its perks.

"Showoff" Wally mumbled as he handed her a protein bar.

She took it with another roll of her eyes, sighing sadly as spotted Aqualad skulking to the back of the ship, his shoulders hunched as he tried to make himself as small as possible.

Lips pursing she turned back to her screen, trying to concentrate on the data before her only to see Robin scowling at her on the other side.

"What?" she clipped coolly.

"Nothing" he muttered darkly as he turned his back on her.

_One problem down. One more to go_

The Girl Wonder sighed to herself as the bioship took off. This was going to be one heck of a mission.

* * *

_**Northern India, September 23 2010, 21:26 IST** _

"Swift. Swift wake up!"

Swift jerked her head up from her keyboard with a loud cry.

"Gah! Don't eat me, Wally!"

She looked around at her teammates who all but burst into laughter.

"Yeah, Wally don't eat her" Artemis snorted at the speedster's expense. Swift could see Aqualad in a corner smiling but not laughing.

"Sorry I just…so much time staring at the screen I just completely zoned out" Swift groaned as she held her head in her hands.

"Yeah well, it's time to zone in. We're almost at the drop point" Robin rolled his eyes as he roughly pulled her up to her feet.

"What's the plan again?" she mumbled as he fixed a line to her utility belt, pointedly avoiding her eye.

Everyone went deadly quiet as they all glowered at Aqualad. He looked down at his feet nervously.

"Re-con mission" Captain Marvel chimed in happily, completely ignoring everyone's angry faces.

It took a couple of minutes of her staring sleepily at him to remember why he was there, and then another couple of minutes to ask herself if he was just dumb or he was just trying to ease the tension. She decided it was a mixture of both.

"Oh… right," she yawned.

"Drop zone A in thirty" Miss Martian called from the helm "that means Artemis, Swift and Robin you're up first"

"Good I could use a little wake up" Swift muttered as a hole in the floor opened behind them.

She, Robin and Artemis all jumped down silently. Even half asleep and in the complete dark, she stuck the landing perfectly. The night wind whipped through her hair and she scowled.

"Great it's cold," she muttered rubbing her arms as her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness.

"It could be worse" Artemis muttered as she landed a few feet away from her "we could be stuck with Kaldur. Oh, wait I forgot, you'd probably like that wouldn't you?"

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" Swift baulked forwards angrily only to be stopped by Robin's gloved hands as he said.

"Artemis drop it"

"Oh so now you're on my side?" Swift rolled her eyes, only for Robin to completely ignore her again.

_Argh! Why is everyone so pissed at me today?_

She groaned softly to herself.

She felt rather than saw the bioship land some way away in a small clearing. The three of them rushed forwards just as their other teammates jumped off the ramp at the back of the ship.

"All clear" Robin murmured glancing at her sidelong as she affirmed his observations.

She looked up at the trees blushing slightly as Aqualad spoke up tapping his belt buckle. His top immediately turned from red to dark grey.

"Switch to stealth, and we'll review mission parameters"

"Parameters?" Kid snapped though he too switched his uniform to stealth mode "We don't need no stinkin' parameters"

"It's recon we know what to do" Robin and Kid turned their backs on the team abruptly.

"Kid, Robin. Wait-" Swift barked angrily. Robin glared at her and grabbed her arm tightly.

"Swift! The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from  **us**!" He turned back to glare at Aqualad.

"Or did you forget that like how you forgot to tell us about the mole" Kid joined them grabbing Swift's other arm. Aqualad stood there at a loss for words. Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Come on. Sooner we get you away from  _him_  the better."

They both steered her quickly away from the clearing.

"Guys stop!" She hissed but the other two didn't even look back at her. "Guys" she kept trying to call out as quietly as she could but they wouldn't listen.

They'd been struggling along for fifteen minutes when Swift scrunched her eyes shut tight.

_I'm sorry guys, but you leave me no choice._

"OW!" Robin and Kid both cried out in pain as they felt something sharp pierce into their wrists.

"What? Don't tell me you want to go back to Kald-ah!" he winced as the sharp-nailed hand let go of his wrist and slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you!" she growled, as Kid Flash quickly let go of her and sped to a safe distance a few feet away.

"Chris-" Robin was rubbing his now red cheek, but his partner was having none of it.

"No, don't you ' _Chris'_  me Richard John Grayson!" she snapped "I admit, It was wrong of me to hide the mole thing from you, but that doesn't give you the right to start dragging me around like that. I'm your partner, not your toy in a schoolyard. You can't just get jealous and horde me to yourself just because you're too selfish to share. And as far as my friendship with Kaldur goes, I have a right to have another guy friend outside of you, Roy and Wally okay. Plus, you don't find me getting all possessive and jealous when you flirt with half the girls in our school do you?"

"But Kaldur he-" Robin spluttered.

"But Kaldur what?" Swift put her hands on her hips. "What is so wrong with him that you can't stand me being with him huh?"

"There's nothing wrong. I just…I don't trust him okay" Robin growled "I don't trust him, especially when he's with you. The way he looks at you-"

"Oh god, not this again" Swift groaned. "We're just friends"

"That's not how it looks to us, right Wally?"

"Uh…I'd rather not get involved in this" Wally backed away with his hands raised in surrender.

"You don't have to" Swift rolled her eyes. "Listen, Rob, it doesn't matter if we're just friends or something more. The point is, you don't have any right to tell me who I should and should not be with, just as I don't have that right to tell you who to be with."

"I know" Robin looked down to the floor "I just don't want to see you get hurt, not like the last time-"

"Dick, that was two years ago. And Kaldur's nothing like Ishan-"

"Whoa-whoa wait who's Ishan?" Kid Flash looked confusedly at the two birds.

"An old friend" Swift sighed running a hand through her hair as she turned back to her partner "Listen, it's sweet you care but you also need to know to back off alright. It's bad enough that I've got one bat trying to control my life without you adding to it, so could you please…" she mimed a pushing action to emphasize her point.

Kid Flash's face softened sympathetically as the Boy Wonder's whole body deflated in defeat.

"I'm sorry." He murmured fists clenching by his sides. "I didn't want to get mad at you…but I still don't trust him!"

"Then trust me." Swift reached out to take his shaking fist "Because no matter what happens, or whatever life throws at us, whoever we date or even marry, we're always going to be partners. Always…"

There was some moments pause, and then slowly, Robin nodded.

"Thank god." Kid Flash sighed in relief as he finally stepped closer to his best friends and slung an arm over each of their shoulders and smirked at Swift. "So, now that we've all kissed and made up, where to secondo in commando?"

"The cliff," Swift grunted as she shrugged him off irritably. "Let's get a good look at where the hell we are"

"What is it with you and cliffs?" Kid rolled his eyes.

"Dunno? What is it with you and magic?" Swift countered.

"Touché"

Swift started to feel more like her normal self as they began trekking through the dense foliage. Knowing that Robin was still on her side no matter what she was becoming gave her such a burst of energy that she quickly lost all sense of sleepiness. Even if he and Kid were still mad at Kaldur.

She could hear a rustling from above her head in the distance.

_What now?_

But before she could get irritated a flapping sound seemed to echo around in the still night air.

"Stop" she hissed dragging the other two behind a fallen log

"What is-" Robin started as both he and Kid Flash had their mouths covered by her hands.

Swift ignored the pair of them and listened intently as she pricked her ears for more sounds.

"There's flapping and squawking" she murmured.

"Avian squawking?" Kid pulled down his goggles and switched to infrared.

"Definitely" Swift nodded pointing at the moon. They looked up as a loud whoosh came from above.

They watched as five birds flew across the moon.

"Just a flock" Robin shrugged but Swift could feel something fast approaching their spot through her echolocation.

"Gah!"

Not one, but three pairs of massive sharp talons clasped at them from the air.

"I thought vultures only ate dead meat?" Robin called angrily as he threw an exploding Birdarang at the buzzard.

"So, what does that make us?" Swift extended her mechanical wings as she pushed herself up into the air with her super breath.

"The prey of some very proactive scavengers!" Kid puffed.

"Pro-active and supersized" Robin glanced back.

Two of the bald-headed birds squawked harshly as they followed them through the undergrowth. The other three stayed above the trees, obviously waiting for another opening to dive through.

"You are thinking what I'm thinking?" he looked up at Swift who pushed herself as fast as she could through the air.

"Cobra Venom?" Kid shrugged.

"Yeah! AHH!" Swift cried out as a vulture swooped down on her.

"Chris!" both the boys called out to her as she crashed into the leaves of a tree.

"I'm ok!" she called though secretly she was terrified of those sharp beaks. "Robin on your left!"

Robin turned and jumped to the side darting through vine-covered branches. Kid Flash zoomed up a tree using it as a springboard to aim an aerial kick at the vulture.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Swift squeaked. She had managed to lose two of the birds by flying in a narrow space between the trees. However, the third one had streamlined its body and was still pursuing her hotly.

To make matters worse, one of the metal rods on her wings had jammed, preventing her from extending it out fully.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

With an angry yell, she turned over onto her back mid-glide, retracting the wings as she reached out with her grappling gun. With one shot it hit a nearby tree, zooming her just out of the way of a swooping vulture, which screeched in pain as it crashed into a branch she had just been about to hit.

"WHOA! Nice one!"

Swift looked down and saw Robin and Kid Flash grinning up at her.

"What happened to your wing?" Robin laughed as she descended back to the ground.

"Mechanism got jammed again." Swift sighed in exasperation, wincing as something flashed in the corner of her eye. She looked at the unconscious bird on the ground something red was flickering on its neck.

"Hey come and have a look at this" she rushed over and lifted up some of the bird's feathers to reveal…

"An inhibitor collar?" Kid gasped in shock as Robin dashed forward with his holo-computer.

"Something's controlling these birds," Robin muttered as he scanned.

"Something or  _someone_?" Swift narrowed her eyes as she clipped off the collar from the bird's neck.

"I think I know that look" Kid smirked "Let's go find you that cliff"

It was half an hour before they found the cliff. Some of the birds had swooped down on them again but they kept themselves better hidden and so didn't run into too much trouble.

They were looking over the surrounding lands, lying on their bellies when they heard Miss Martian's voice in their heads.

_Link established_

_Should he really be giving us orders_  Artemis complained loudly.  _And should you really be following them?_

 _Listen, please!_ Aqualad snapped quickly.

 _Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head_ Kid Flash rolled his eyes at Robin and Swift  _I've so missed that!_

 _Hey Kaldur!_  Robin called in annoyance  _KF, Swift and I were attacked by giant vultures. Of course, since we're all moles you probably think we attacked ourselves._

 _If he did he wouldn't tell you. And don't forget he obviously wouldn't suspect his_ _ **precious lieutenant.**_  They could practically feel the blonde archer rolling her eyes.

 _Stop it you all of you!_  Swift cried out hotly in her head, wishing she could now strangle the blonde archer.  _You're acting like little kids!_

 _You're one to talk, Daddy's princess._ Artemis smirked

 _That's it?! I've had it! Give me your location and I'll come over and kick your ass!_ Swift snarled.

 _Whoa, there missy hold it together._ Kid Flash's grip on the young bird's arm was tight as she jostled angrily beside him.  _And Artemis back off alright, no one asked for the commentary._

 _Superboy are you online or are you just pouting?_  Miss Martian cut across the argument firmly.

 _Busy call back later!_  Superboy grunted

 _I gotta say though, what gets to me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us._  Kid complained loudly.

 _He should be Chalant!_ Robin agreed.  _Way Chalant, extremely chala-_

 _Will you quit the chalant crap-_ Swift rolled her eyes as Artemis steamrolled over her.

_How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?_

_Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves._  Miss Martian agreed

 _Did he really think you or I could be the mole?_  Kid gesticulated to Swift who shook her head

 _We've known each other for years!_  Robin nodded vigorously

 _Kaldur do something! You're the leader!_ Swift shut her eyes tight. She was beginning to get a major headache.

 _I-I don't know_. Swift felt Kaldur's irritation hit her through the link. Everyone thankfully had ignored this conversation and were continually talking over one another.

 _Trust is a two-way street_ Artemis said as M'gann rolled over her

_And you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them_

_Not that we'd do that_

_Never!_ The two girls agreed.

 _ENOUGH!_  Everyone's conversations stopped abruptly as they felt a surge of anger from Kaldur's mind

_Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a team to save him_

_Under your leadership,_ Wally snorted earning a sharp glare from Swift _I don't think-_

 _This is not up for debate!_  Kaldur snapped so badly that Robin flinched.  _You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over if you wish to select a new leader I will happily step down. But until that time I am in command here_

Robin and Kid Flash exchanged disbelieving looks. Swift took a deep breath…

_If Aqualad steps down…so will I_

_WHAT!_ Everyone gasped.

 _You heard me_  she narrowed her eyes at the two boys who were looking at her in shock _._

 _But Swift-_  Robin grabbed Swift's hand to stop her standing up.

_Robin, it's only fair, seeing as I am his "_ _**precious** _ **_lieutenant"_ **

_Swift, I appreciate what you're trying to do but-_  Kaldur sounded really worried now

_Kaldur YOU chose me to be second in command. If you go, then by default I should step down too and give someone else a chance._

_Swift_  … Robin sounded rather despondent

He knew how important her position on the team meant to her. And while he might've been jealous of her outranking him at the start, she had proven herself worthy of the role. He'd never dream of trying to take it away from her even if Kaldur had to step down.

Swift sighed trying hard not to imagine her partner's bright blue eyes widen like a sad kicked puppy dog under his mask.

_I'm sorry Robin, but if you guys can't figure out how to act maturely that's how it's going to be!_

She turned away from him, squinting with her superior gaze in the dark.

 _There is a compound_  she narrowed her eyes.  _And it's close._

* * *

They were outside a concrete compound which had pylons around surrounding it in a semicircular shape.

Swift and Miss Martian were hidden in the trees. Artemis and Aqualad were on higher ground so that the archer had a clear shot and Kid Flash and Robin were lying flat on the ground.

Miss Martian looked hard at the door.

_Swift and I'll fly over-_

_Negatory! The field extends like a dome over the whole compound_  Kid said quickly. Swift looked down and saw he had his infrared goggles on.

 _Pylons are insulated but one good shock could cause a momentary gap_  Robin was typing furiously on his holo-computer

 _I see a target_  Artemis pointed with her loaded bow towards a switch.

 _Good because you only get one shot._  Swift narrowed her eyes.

_Then be ready to hit it. Be ready, all of you._

Everyone nodded.

Aqualad dashed out quietly, charging his eel tattoos with electricity. He pressed his palms against the dome which glowed with the sudden charge. Slowly after a few moments, a tiny hole appeared in its surface.

 _Now!_  Kid ordered.

Swift watched closely as Artemis shot her arrow through the hole and hit the switch dead on point.

The shimmering dome vanished, and they all stepped forwards, only to pause as Robin looked up in alarm.

A monkey was on the roof…a beeping collar around its neck.

It screeched. There were large flashes of red light. Sirens went off from the roof as a platoon of monkeys lunged at them all shrieking madly.

Two of them managed to jump onto Swift before she could leap away. She fell backwards landing hard on Robin who also was being bitten and scratched ferociously.

"Remove their collars!" Aqualad called out as a monkey dashed away from him.

"Sounds easy when he says it" Robin grunted holding one monkey off him

"Tell me about it" Swift grabbed the jaws of the other monkey about to bite her.

There was a twang of a bow, and two arrows snapped past hitting both monkey's collars. They clanged off and both animals fled into the trees.

They turned to see Artemis fitting her bow, two monkeys sneaking up behind her. Robin and Swift flung a birdarang each and the monkeys ran for it. The front doors of the compound slid open and a huge dark shape with a red beret and a machine gun stepped through.

The gorilla sniffed the air, grunting loudly before turning around and grabbing something behind him. He flung it to the ground, and Miss Martian reappeared wincing.

He aimed his machine gun down.

"Get your paws off her you darn dirty ape!" Kid Flash growled as he sped towards them

The ape turned, and Kid sped right into his chest. He was knocked backwards. Swift dodged his body just in time. The gorilla aimed the machine gun on her as she charged at him, claw-like hand raised.

There was a sharp sound of slicing. The gorilla stared in shock down at his chest where three large slices cut across the dark flesh. He yelled in a fury and aimed a hefty swipe at Swift.

She had just avoided getting hit by a fist when the ape rose into the air. It howled in anger as Miss Martian thrust her hand forth and flung it away.

There was a loud crash it crashed into the wall behind. Miss Martian and Swift rushed in after it, but it was already unconscious. They heard their teammates behind them as something metallic wheeled round to face them in the darkness

A brain in a strange pod with wheels. It had a robotic arm extended with a scalpel at the end.

"It's the Brain!" Kid exclaimed pointing.

"Ugh! I can see it's a brain" Artemis snapped as she stared in disgust at the thing.

"Not a brain  **The**  Brain!" Kid rolled his eyes.

"In ze flesh. So to speak" The Brain rolled forwards his metallic French accent sounding amused. He turned to the giant ape who had stood up and muttered an order in rapid French.

The ape pressed a button on a small remote in his hand. Four metal pylons grew upwards from the floor to stand in front of them. They glowed blue, and they all fell backwards with a cry.

"Ow," Swift grunted. Robin had fallen on top of her his head hitting her stomach and winding her slightly.

 _Miss Martian, Superboy now!_  Aqualad ordered telepathically.

Miss Martian's eyes glowed, and the gorilla in front let go of the remote. It flew over towards her and the button clicked.

The pylons deactivated quickly. They all stood up just as the wall behind the Brain smashed.

Superboy stepped through his shirt torn with lots of bite and scratch marks all over his shoulder. Beside him, a giant white wolf stood yellow eyes blazing. It pounced on the giant gorilla knocking it back.

The ape stood up only to be kicked by a speedy Kid Flash. It tried shooting its machine gun off after him but Robin and Swift both swooped down, boy wonder on the grapple gun, girl wonder with her mechanical wings. He shot after them, and Miss Martian lifted him up with her telepathy. He crashed to the ground on his back, before rolling over and angrily roaring.

Superboy leapt up and hit him but was sent flying back as the machine gun fired off. Thanks to the invulnerability of his skin he was okay. There was an explosion on the arm of the ape, and he turned as Artemis fitted another exploding trick arrow into her bow.

Robin and Swift joined her the former pushing his partner behind him.

_Help Kaldur and Captain Marvel!_

Swift nodded running off as Aqualad dodged a laser ray shot by the brain. She threw down a smoke pellet trying hard not to laugh at the Brain's furious outburst

"MERDE!"

"Thank you!" Aqualad called as she quickly used her super breath to blow more of the smoke at the Brain.

"No prob" Swift smirked as they reached a larger room. It had large computers all around and a large medical bed in the centre. Captain Marvel was lying strapped to it, an inhibitor collar on his neck.

Using his strength Aqualad snapped the collar from the man's neck.

"Thanks!" Captain Marvel grinned before sliding off and going to the tiger on the floor "Now one good turn deserves another"

He tore the collar on the big cat in two, and it rolled over to stand. Something metallic and something huge thudded into vision a little way away.

The tiger growled, and Aqualad, Swift and Captain Marvel readied themselves into battle positions to face the Brain and his ape sidekick. It roared as Superboy stepped forwards flanked by the white wolf.

"try it" he snarled cracking his knuckles "I hate monkeys."

The monkey snarled, but the Brain sighed behind him.

"No Mallah, this will not be our Waterloo" there were several metallic clicks as the Brain's secret compartments opened up revealing red glowing rods.

"Au revoir my Amis" he hissed.

"Get down!" Kid flash cried out as one by one the light switches turned off dramatically.

5…

Swift jumped down to the ground…

4 …

She grabbed Aqualad…

3…

She pulled him behind the table…

2…

Swift shut her eyes tight waiting for the impending Bang of an explosion.

1…

All the lights went out.

…

…

…

Swift opened her eyes as a dim light flickered above them. Aqualad looked at her eyebrows raised in astonishment. They both peered over the medical table.

Everyone else was unfurling from their crouched positions. The Brain and Mallah, the ape, were both gone.

Kid Flash was the first to recover.

"Wait. That big weapon thing was just…a light switch?"

Everyone exchanged very confused glances indeed.

* * *

Robin and Captain Marvel kept a watch on Aqualad as the last of the animals, rushed up to them at the large tiger's command and allowed Aqualad to take the collar off.

"That's the last of the collars?" Captain Marvel stooped down to pat the tiger's back. It made a rumbling noise as if agreeing.

"And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?"

Another small rumble.

"Good" Marvel scratched its neck and it almost purred in contentment. "I'll be back for a visit. I promise"

The tiger roared victoriously as it leapt off into the night. Captain Marvel waved back at it watching its tail bounce with each bound.

"I think I'll call him Mr Tawney."

The Boy Wonder snorted under his breath. This Marvel guy was weird, friendly and fun and all but weird.

He looked up to a spot some way away from where Superboy was scratching the furry chest of the large white wolf.

"The rest of the pack is gone. What are you still doing here?"

"I think he wants to stay with you" Miss Martian and Swift both smiled fondly as Superboy turned around his face full of excitement.

"Can I keep him?"

Swift chuckled softly under her breath as the wolf pressed its white snout into her hands as if asking the same question.

"We'll see" It whined happily as she scratched the fur behind its ear shoulder.

Kid Flash laughed. "First the sphere and now this beast? Dude, you sure have a habit of collecting strays."

"Maybe because he's such a stray himself" Miss Martian's smile softened. Swift turned tactfully away and grinned at Robin. The wolf feeling her fingers hesitate in scratching his ear nosed her stomach playfully.

"Whoa, there uh…hmm," she scratched his ear thoughtfully.

"What?" Kid Flash raised his eyebrow.

"If we're going to keep him he's gonna need a name"

"How's about Krypto?" Kid suggested.

The wolf growled at him.

"Pass" Superboy smirked. The canine stopped growling at once.

"Besides, isn't that taken?" Miss Martian exchanged a nervous glance with Swift.

_You two made up?_

She asked. Miss Martian's eyes widened a fraction.

_Did you know?_

_I told her after we came back from Belle Reve_

Superboy glanced down at the ground, looking slightly worried.

_Don't worry you two. You're secrets safe with me_

Swift gave a small wink to the pair as she walked away. Miss Martian and Superboy both smiled.

She strode over to the bottom of the ramp behind Aqualad as he walked up. Robin stood at the top arms folded as he narrowed his eyes at the team leader.

"Look I have to know," he said quietly "Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"

Aqualad stopped in his tracks and turned to face everyone who had all stepped forward to hear better.

He took a deep breath. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

"WHAT?" Artemis's eyes bulged out of her sockets "You can't trust him"

"I do not" Aqualad tensed up "But it seemed possible, even likely that he was attempting to divide the team with false information"

"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Robin looked down at the ground.

"Exactly. But we also had to consider that it might've been true too" Swift glanced sidelong Aqualad who nodded.

"Yes, it wasn't an easy decision. We did not wish to alert the traitor."

Robin looked down at Swift as she walked up to stand beside him.

"I hate to say it but…it actually makes sense"

"I am still prepared to step down, though I would highly recommend that Swift stays in her position. She was only following orders." Aqualad said but Swift smiled.

"Kal, my decision remains the same whether you like it or not" Swift folded her arms looking back at the team.

"All those in favour of keeping Aqualad and Swift in charge" Kid called out with a grin.

Every member put up their hands.

"Thank you" Aqualad nodded at Swift as Captain Marvel flew up to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Guess it's unanimous" he held out his hand and Aqualad and Swift both shook it in turn before the hero turned around

"See you tomorrow"

"Wait you're not coming back with us?" Aqualad's eyes widened in surprise.

"Nope gotta fly" and with that, he jumped off the ground and into the air.

"He is one strange guy" Swift cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Totally" Robin muttered, nodding slowly as they turned to go back inside the ship.

"So Conner is the wolf coming with us?" Swift waited until the super clone, the canine and the Martian girl was level with her.

"Yes!" Superboy said at once.

"So what are you going to call him?" Miss Martian asked quietly.

"What's wrong with Wolf?" Conner quirked an eyebrow.

"Generic but acceptable" Kid Flash nodded.

Swift was about to follow him on board when a hand grabbed her arm.

She turned around and saw Artemis standing there looking sheepish.

"Hey…Can I uh…talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure" Swift shrugged giving the others a pointed look as they all skulked up the ramp.

"Listen…about earlier…" The archer scratched the back of her head nervously "I'm sorry. I was mad about the whole Red Tornado and the mole thing, and I took it out on you. And-and all that stuff I said about you and Kaldur…that was way out of line."

"You think?" Swift folded her arms and sighed. "Listen, I get it. A lot of stuff's been going on recently, and its all confusing and weird and even I don't know what's going on. But if you call me Daddy's princess again, I'm going to kick your ass."

Artemis tensed, only to relax as she caught sight of the Girl Wonder's small amused smirk.

"Fair enough. So, we good?"

"We're good" Swift nodded, and the two of them smirked as they finally made their way up into the bioship.

As they made their way to their seats, Kid Flash tossed the girl wonder a protein bar. "Here!"

"Thank you" Swift smiled as she tore into the food bar with a ferocious appetite.

"Woah" Artemis frowned as she watched both the speedster and the girl bird tear through their food rapidly. "Girl, are you going through a growth spurt or something?"

Swift swallowed the whole lot. "Dunno I get famished after missions. Why what's up?" She looked at the archer who shuffled nervously.

"It's nothing; it's just you're eating more than Baywatch over there."

There was a collective groan of exasperation and amusement as the team watched Wally and Artemis resume their usual bickering and squabbling.

_Oh well, at least things are getting back to normal._

Swift sighed, smirking as she caught Kaldur's eye from where he sat behind her.

"Thank you" he mouthed silently so that no one could hear.

"No prob" she winked as she turned back to watch the fight unfold, missing the way the Atlantean's cheeks flushed while Robin and Superboy both rolled their eyes in annoyance.

From her spot at the helm, Miss Martian giggled softly and shook her head.

_Ah, those two._

* * *

_**The Batcave, 24 September 2010, 03:04 EDT** _

Christine and Dick walked out of the small shower stalls, located close to the Bat Computer laughing and chatting about their mission excitedly when there was a loud rumbling of an engine. They turned as the black form of the Bat-mobile zoomed down the long path from the secret entrance all the way down to the platform.

Christine stepped back so that she hid behind Dick. He grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"It'll be fine" he murmured, but she still shut her eyes tight.

The black car gently slid into a stop in its parking space, and the door opened upwards.

Batman stepped out, his dark silhouette stark against the light of the computer screens behind him. He looked up and saw his two partners in their pyjamas with towels over their shoulders.

"Welcome back" he growled softly.

"Same to you" Dick nodded curtly.

Christine didn't answer but avoided Batman's eye. Damn, she was still not talking to him. Batman took a deep breath his fists clenching slightly.

"I'll go ahead then" the Boy Wonder muttered as he quietly sidled away.

Once they were alone, Batman pulled back the cowl from his face, and Bruce Wayne sighed.

"I see the two of you have made up."

"Mostly" Christine muttered tersely.

"And the team?" Bruce folded his arms.

"They're doing okay. No thanks to you." Christine glowered up at her godfather hands on her hips "You know I can look after myself. I don't need you ordering Dick to watch me like a hawk."

"I didn't order him to do anything" Bruce rumbled as he matched her glare with one of his own "Though it's probably a good thing he is keeping an eye on you when you're with your friends, especially Aqualad."

"Oh my god what is it with everyone judging Kaldur and me? We're just friends-"

"That wasn't what it looked like when I saw you two that night" Bruce barked over the top of her. "But relationships aside, you almost gave away your secret identity."

"I only told him about my mom to clear the air between us." she rallied, but her godfather was having none of it.

"And you didn't once think that it might be dangerous to do that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Christine's eyes narrowed.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about" Bruce grunted.

Christine's yellow eyes flashed dangerously "Kaldur is not…no…you're not honestly saying that  _he_  could be the mole?"

"That's what we all said about Red Tornado and looked what happened to him. At this point, it's possible the mole could be any one of you" Bruce muttered.

"Oh my god you can't be serious?" Christine all but screeched angrily at him "You think Dick or I would ever betray you or the league?"

"No. I know you both wouldn't ever do that." Bruce growled "But when dealing with a situation like this you have to consider all the possibilities both likely or unlikely. And if you'd look at this objectively, you'd see that everyone in the entire team, even you and Dick, can betray the league for a variety of reasons."

"I can't believe you!" Christine groaned pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe you'd actually think I'd ever betray you! How could you-how dare-argh!"

"I'm not accusing you of anything Christine. I'm just trying to explain a possible scenario" Bruce put a hand on her shoulder "There is also a chance that one of you might not be a mole at all. It might be that someone on the team is brainwashed into giving the information without themselves even being aware of it. Or they could even be confiding in someone else outside who seems trustworthy but is using that information behind their backs."

For the briefest of seconds, the image of a shadowy figure in an owl cowl flashed before Christine's eyes. But she quickly shrugged it off.

No. She had not given that guy any information. If anything, he had been the one giving  _her_  information. If it hadn't been for him, she might not have known about her friends being in danger, or about her mother's plotting and scheming…

She shook her head out to clear it.

"I'm going to bed." She muttered and turned her back on him. "I need to sleep. Can't think straight when I'm tired like this"

"Goodnight" Bruce called after her only to receive a grumble in return from her retreating back.

"I see you, and the young mistress are both still at loggerheads then?" Alfred snorted as he came up towards his master, tea tray in hand.

"What am I going to do with her Alfred?" Bruce sighed as he took a cup of steaming tea. "Seriously, first the transformation and now a mole on the team. It's almost like two years ago all over again."

"Except Miss Christine is not the same little girl from two years ago, is she?" the old butler quirked a white brow. "And unlike before she has good friends who have her back. Perhaps it might be best to let the team sort this problem out for themselves. Who knows, it might make their bond stronger than ever."

"Or break whatever they have apart" Bruce mumbled darkly, and Alfred sighed.

"Perhaps. But that will be for them to discover for themselves."

"I suppose you're right" Bruce took a sip of his tea, eyeing the red chess pawn that sat on the edge of the Batcomputer.

"Ah yes, Miss Scarlett's calling card" Alfred sniffed disdainfully at the little red piece. "It's been a while since she was last in action."

"Something big is going down Alfred" Bruce narrowed his dark blue eyes on the pawn. "And I have a bad feeling the Red Queen and her hand of Eight are just the tip of the iceberg"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter 13 is up. Nearly halfway through the remastering.
> 
> Anyways Cheers and i hope you enjoyed,
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	14. Revelation

_**Mount Justice, October 1 2010, 18:13 EDT** _

Kaldur and Dick both grunted as they threw punches at each other. Each swipe they took was being recorded by the holographic sparring system, and each hit that got them was stored as a point. Just a little way away, a dark-haired man with a neat moustache dressed in a magician's suit and top hat, stood next to Captain Marvel who seemed to be snacking on one of Wally's treasured granola bars. Both were watching the fight with amusement and whispering with each other.

Dick blocked but then countered with a kick aiming for Kaldur's head. The Atlantean leant back to dodge and aimed a swipe with his fist. Dick flipped away, lightly dodging and countering the older boy's massive hits with his sharp ones.

Kaldur aimed another punch but was forced to flip back as well as Dick aimed a head kick, barely scraping his chin. They landed backwards panting just as footsteps came up the length of the hallway leading from the training rooms.

The glowing circle beneath them vanished, and they turned to see Conner and M'gann walk in looking very chummy, the clone in his usual clothes and M'gann in a purple version of her usual ensemble.

"Y'know they're a couple, right?" Dick muttered through the corner of his mouth.

Kaldur raised his eyebrows M'gann giggled and poked Conner. "I believe I knew before they did."

The two of them watched a little longer as Christine followed gambolling behind with Wolf who barked playfully, trying to nip at the hem of her short denim dress. Her long white hair flowed behind her in its low plait as she jogged over to join the two boys.

"Hey there Missy, what's up?" Dick popped the 'p' with a playful grin.

"What else but the ceiling" Christine giggled as she scratched Wolf's neck affectionately.

"onnercay isway oinggay outway ithway annm'gay" Dick folded his arms proudly, but Kaldur just quirked an eyebrow at Christine who rolled her eyes.

"Pig Latin, and yes Wonder Boy I do know that Conner and M'gann are a couple. You might say I've known since the -"

She broke off as she heard more footsteps, this time from the hallway behind them. They turned and saw Artemis and Wally both scowling as they walked towards them.

"Do we tell them?" Dick smirked.

"It is not our place" Kaldur and Christine both gave the Boy Wonder with equally pointed looks as the pair walked up to them.

"So, if Zatara's our babysitter for the week why is  **he**  still here? And why is he eating my snacks" Wally jerked his thumb towards Captain Marvel who hadn't noticed the jab and continued talking with Zatara.

"Because your snacks are so easy to access" Christine took out a bar from a pocket and unwrapped it.

"Oh, Babe! Come on?!" Wally groaned in defeat as she took a deliberately slow bite.

Dick and Artemis both cackled as a zeta tube whirred into action some way away.

**_Recognised Batman 02_ **

They all turned to see the massive form of the Batman stride into the hall looking very grim.

"Computer, National news" he commanded and immediately a blue holographic screen with a video channel popped up revealing Cat Grant's face. As she spoke images of Metropolis flashed across the screen, a giant green plant thing wrapping and coiling around the buildings as Leaguers tried attacking at it.

_"_ _The initial attack was short lived. But Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve. And despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice League, there seems to be no end in sight."_

"Should we get out there?" Dick asked quickly, the others nodding in agreement as they stood beside him.

"No. The League will soon have the situation under control, but that's not why I'm here" Batman turned to face the team.

"According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra."

"Who combined it with Bane's Venom to create Kobra Venom" Wally nodded.

"Which the brain used to create his animal army" Dick looked at Wolf and Conner who smiled and scratched the large canine's chin.

"And upgrade Wolf."

"The brain also used inhibitor collars," Christine folded her arms staring hard at the holograph of the villain on the screen.

"Like the ones at Belle Reve penitentiary" M'gann agreed.

Artemis stepped forwards, looking so very nervous that Christine and Dick exchanged glances.

"Batman is it possible that that plant thingy is on Kobra Venom too?"

"I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis" Batman nodded and pulled up a holographic keyboard. "the vine's cells do contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant."

But that wasn't the only thing Christine could see as she examined the molecular structure on the screen then looked at the frozen picture of the plant attacking metropolis.

"Of course," she muttered.

"Swift?" her mentor gave her a pointed look, and she coughed quickly.

"The plant is Poison Ivy's." She pulled up her screen which scanned the image more thoroughly as she pulled up the second image in front of her of a green DNA strand.

"Every single one of the plant's Poison Ivy grows herself contains a trace amount of her DNA, hence why she has an unnatural amount of control over them. This is a sample of one of her plants on its own." she pointed to the green helix ", and this is the Kobra Venom mutation" she pointed back to the first image. The two double helixes were almost the same except for a few changes to the proteins.

"Hey not bad babe" Wally patted Christine on the shoulder, but she ignored him as she continued to scan.

"Don't congratulate me just yet. There's something else laced in there too, but I'm not sure…" She narrowed her eyes as she spotted another strain of DNA, but this one was altered in an even stranger way.

"These cannot be co-incidences" Kaldur spoke up sternly "unrelated criminals are co-operating with each other worldwide."

"Exactly. It's now clear that our enemies have formed a kind of Secret Society of Super-Villains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning."

Batman was trying not to smirk with amusement as Dick also pulled up a holographic screen and began typing furiously. It seemed like the two of his protégés were really in the zone today.

"You got that right" Dick glared hard at his keyboard as he summoned more screens around the main one. "Plant creatures have also sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City and Taipei."

The screens suddenly went to static and Batman whirled around.

"Dude," Wally hissed at the birds who both started to type faster than ever. Artemis stared in amazement as their fingers flew over the screen in a blur.

"It's not me. Somebody's cutting the satellite signal" Dick grunted.

"It's not just yours. Every single frequency is down. Jesus Christ!" Christine jumped back as a man's face flashed on her screen. His skin was chalk white, with a mop of green hair atop of his face. His suit was purple a ridiculous pink flower on the lapel.

He tapped what was probably the camera on his end and his blood red lips split in an insane, terrifying sneer across his face. Christine shuddered at the sight of the wildly glinting green eyes.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement_ " The Joker hissed as he flipped out a knife and turned the camera by hand to face a group of people standing close by.

" _From the_ _ **In**_ _-justice League_ "

Christine recognised all of them at once, especially the red-haired woman standing at the side wearing a leotard made of leaves.

A man dressed in formal green attire stepped forwards from his spot in the front and spoke in a very thick Eastern European Accent " _We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them a ransom of ten billion American Dollars will be required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit but the longer your governments wait…"_

The man broke off as the Joker turned the camera back on himself. " _The more we get to have our… Jollies! Ahahahhaahaha!_ "

Christine gulped as Joker's creepy cackles echoed through the caves speaker systems before the screens turned once again to static.

"God and people wonder why we hate clowns," she muttered to Dick who nodded in grim agreement.

Batman put a hand up to his com "Roger that Aquaman. The UN will prepare the ransom as a fallback, but it won't come to that."

"Count Vertigo, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra Humanite, Atomic Skull, Black Adam, Wotan. Seven heavy hitters. Probably behind nearly everything and everyone we've faced" Dick frowned as the facial recognition scanners highlighted each super villain's face.

"There's your secret society" Wally muttered.

"Not so secret anymore" Artemis looked on Christine's screen. Kaldur glared hard at the main screen.

"Perhaps after India, they realised we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer."

"Yeah?! Well, that was their mistake" Wally pounded his fist into his palm excitedly "Right now I say we go and kick some plant creature butt."

"The Justice League will handle the plants; I have a different job for this team" Batman cut across the young speedster who groaned.

"Aw man, ow!" he winced as Artemis hit his shoulder. Batman ignored them.

"With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it."

"You realise what you're asking them to do" Zatara stepped forwards concernedly. Batman looked back at the team, specifically at his two protégés who were both looking very apprehensive.

"They're ready."

Christine would've somersaulted right there and then if it hadn't been for Wally who cried out in confusion.

"Ready? Ready for what? Ow, would you cut that-"

"Hello, Wally" Artemis pulled back her fist from his arm "If the big guns are fighting plants who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know I guess…"

Christine rolled her eyes and grabbed Wally's jaw to force him to look at the screen displaying all the supervillains.

"Ohhhh…" his eyes widened with dawning comprehension.

"Took you long enough" she smirked. Wally scowled as Artemis snorted from behind.

"Well Batman, I trust you are correct" Zatara looked at Batman who narrowed his eyes.

"I trust you can locate the enemy."

"Indeed," the magician nodded "Wotan's involvement suggests that sorcery is part of how the plants are controlled."

"Would it also explain the weird readings I'm getting from the sample?" Christine showed the plants strange DNA strain again.

Zatara nodded "Indeed it would. Swift, could you please provide a holo-map?"

"Sure" Christine began typing quickly, and a holographic globe appeared before them.

"I'll search for signs of concentrated sorcerer's activity" He stepped towards the globe and held out his white-gloved palms, frowning hard with concentration.

"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!"

It was perhaps just a second, but Christine gasped softly as she felt the air in the room change. Something like a trail of white energy slipped out of the magician's mouth as he finished the last word and zipped over the globe.

Christine quickly looked at her friends. Like her, all of them were staring in wonder at the spellcaster as his magic made its way to settle over a point right over lower North America.

"That is where you will find the Injustice League's central control system" Zatara lowered his hands as a holographic dot appeared where the spell had landed.

Dick cried out "Co-ordinate's locked in, the Louisiana Bayou."

"We are on our way" Kaldur nodded once to Batman as the team ran off.

The older magician's eyes widened in shock as Christine passed him, her yellow irises illuminated in the light of the globe. For a split second, it looked as if the pupils had sharpened into vertical slits. Then the moment passed, and the girl was dashing after her teammates down the long dark corridor.

As Batman ordered Captain Marvel to join the Justice League, Zatara kept staring at the corridor, watching as the white of the girl's skirt whipped out of sight.

"Interesting…"

"What?" Batman narrowed his eyes. Zatara glanced at his colleague and frowned slightly.

"Your goddaughter…How long has she had her powers?"

* * *

_**Bayou Bartholomew, October 1 2010, 18:52 EDT** _

Swift sat in her usual spot behind Robin in the Bioship. They were flying over the Bayou at top speed, though even that was too slow for her. It took nearly all her willpower to keep herself from just jumping out and flying on her mechanical wings.

No. She had to conserve her strength for battling the Injustice League.

Everyone was on edge and were all coping with it with their various ticks. Robin kept polishing his already very shiny birdarangs; Miss Martian was piloting the ship; Superboy was petting Wolf (who for some strange reason was tagging along), and Kid Flash was stuffing his face with fruit, and other stuff while Artemis scowled at him as she prepped her trick arrows.

The speedster turned to Aqualad who sat beside Swift continuously glancing down at an average sized dark duffle bag.

"What's in the duffle?" Kid swallowed half a banana in one go.

"Plan B" the Atlantean looked at Swift who pouted at him grumpily. He'd refused to tell her what the contents of the bag were, asking her to trust his judgement while assuring her that it wouldn't be necessary. To avoid losing time (and the argument) Swift had backed down, though she could feel her curiosity gnawing away at her with every glance towards the ragged bag.

There was a grunt of pain from the back where the helm was.

"You alright?" Superboy looked at M'gann who put her head in her hand.

"Ugh. Dizzy" she groaned.

Swift raised her eyebrows.

"Wait, Martians get-"

"Airsick?" Robin finished as they exchanged glances.

"She does look a bit greener than usual" Kid muttered as everyone leant towards their friend concerned.

"Not me her!" Miss Martian shook her head.

"I feel fine" Artemis looked at Swift who shook her head shrugging.

"Not you two, the Bioship. She's trying to shield us but-"

"ARGH!" both Swift and Superboy clutched at their heads as a piercing high pitch rang through both their overly sensitive ears.

"Swift, Superboy! What's wrong" Aqualad reached forward to help only to be swatted away by a flailing hand. But Swift could not help herself.

"Bloody High Frequency. It's jamming every-agh!" she grunted as Miss Martian cried out in pain.

They all held on tight as the ship swerved ominously. Miss Martian was forced to uncloak the struggling ship to apply full mental strength into the acceleration.

They began to level out.

There was a loud crashing sound from beneath them on the ground.

"Uh, guys…What was that?" Artemis's face paled. But no sooner had Kid Flash opened his mouth did something crash into the bottom of the Bio-Ship.

"AHHHHH!" they all yelled as the ship was thrown high into the air before plunging down to the swampy mass below.

_Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy SHIT!_

Swift shut her eyes tight, wincing as the roar of the engines combined painfully with the high pitch still ringing in her ears.

There was a loud splash that sent everyone jerking against their seatbelts painfully. Everyone groaned including the ship.

Swift looked out her window and saw a giant green tentacle-like thing wrap around one of the ship's wings. The tentacle gave a massive tug which jerked her again against her seatbelt, and she gasped as the waterline went higher and higher up her window.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Swift looked up as a pair of giant hands tore a hole in the ceiling of the ship to reveal a man with short dark hair and wearing a black suit. Black Adam growled down at them as he tried to wrench the hole wider.

"Argh! He's hurting her!" Miss Martian grunted clutching her head. Seeing this too Superboy leapt up and punched Black Adam's face. He let go, and the top of the ship was finally dragged down below the waterline.

Swamp water burst through the hole in the ship in torrents.

Swift fumbled through her utility belt, trying to remember where she put her respirator.

_Shit no! Where is it?_

"Swift, what's wrong?" Robin swam over to her side as a string of swear words in multiple languages escaped her mouth.

The water was almost past her shoulders now.

She paused for a second treading the water.

"God, I hope this works" she muttered she scrunched up her eyes tight.

"Swift what-" Robin winced as a rush of wind whipped past him.

A second later her eyes snapped open, and she dropped below the surface of the water.

_Alright, I've got nine minutes and fifty seconds till I run out of breath. We better make this count._

She counted as she set the timer on her holo-computer.

"No. No way am I nearly drowning three missions in a row!" Artemis complained loudly as Robin shoved his respirator into his mouth and dropped under the water too.

He saw Swift swimming quickly to hold onto her seat, her cheeks bulging as she held onto her breath. She gave him a thumb up as everyone else joined them underwater.

Miss Martian swam down to the bottom of the ship, bubbles issuing from the small gills she'd grown on the sides of her neck. Her eyes glowed white for a moment, and she opened a large hole in the bottom.

_Out! Everyone out!_

Aqualad ordered loudly through the telepathic link. Everyone swam through the hole quickly trying to make their way for the surface, the Atlantean staying behind to herd the last stragglers out while Swift led them up to the surface.

With a gasp, they all surfaced nearby a large rock in the shallows of what appeared to be a huge murky swamp.

_Is everyone okay?_

Swift called out as she did a headcount of all her teammates.

_I think so._

Artemis gasped as they all crawled up onto the muddy bayou bank.

Wolf shook his fur out and splattered water all over them.

"Phew" Robin sighed in relief as they stood up "That was close"

"Yeah, way too close" Swift agreed before facing Miss Martian who was with Superboy looking between the trees. "How's the bioship?"

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover-AHH!"

Everyone cringed as the piercing waves of high frequency hit their ears again. Swift clutched at her head as her body rang with pain. She and Robin slid to their knees as a blurry mass of green walked over to tower over Kid Flash besides them.

"V-Vertigo" Kid winced.

"Count Vertigo to you  **peasant** " Count Vertigo spat down.

Swift grunted trying to crawl forwards as Superboy attempted to rush the Count who promptly dropped his high-frequency wave attack. However, Black Adam sped up to the clone boy from nowhere, hitting him squarely in the jaw.

Superboy fell through a few trees to their left Adam following close behind. Aqualad stood up, quickly using his water bearers to summon up jets of murky swamp water. Like whips, he aimed them at Count Vertigo who was bashed away landing somewhere in the undergrowth of the trees around them. He turned to look back at his team who were all struggling to their feet.

_Swift, Robin, Miss Martian. Disappear. We will keep them busy. You three will fulfil the mission objective._

The three nodded, Swift and Miss Martian promptly turning invisible while Robin ninja stepped away into the trees. As she followed her partner's lead, Swift heard Wolf snarling as he attacked Black Adam who'd returned to the fray.

It took all the Girl Wonder had to stop herself from going back to help the others. Robin and Miss Martian felt her apprehension through the link.

_They'll be fine_

Robin tried to sound nonchalant as he padded over a root of a tree. It was slowly getting quieter as they walked further away.

_I hope so._

Swift watched as her partner pulled out his holo-map. She could hear the rustle as the plants around them shifted of their own accord. Poison Ivy had not wasted any time making her playground here that was for sure.

She stiffened as she felt a gust of wind pass her by. But it was only Miss Martian.

_I've lost contact with Aqualad and the others. Should we-_

_Sorry, that's not the gig, this is!_

Robin cut across firmly as he pulled back a branch. A glass dome-like structure was dimly illuminated from within, like a giant greenhouse.

_The Injustice League's central control system Looks like that plant is acting as an antenna to control the other plant's worldwide_

Robin snorted.

Swift raised her eyebrows as she looked upwards towards the top of the dome where a sizeable green something was sprouting upwards towards the sky.

_Is it just me or does that look like a giant beanstalk?_

_Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum_

Robin smirked, and Swift chuckled over the link.

_Fee-fi-fo-what?_

Miss Martian blinked, confused. Swift rolled her eyes.

_Note to self. Make sure M'gann and Conner know their Earth fairytales back to front before they go to school next week. Huh?_

She stiffened as she felt something slither over her ankle, something that felt strangely like... She spun around and at once thick, green vines wrapped around her, Robin's and Miss Martian's bodies like slithering serpents

"Well hello," the amused voice of a woman floated over to them as they struggled. Swift looked up as the red-haired, pale form of Poison Ivy stepped forwards into the light followed by a giant gorilla with a large gun, Ultra Humanite.

"And Goodbye…"

He aimed it at the three of them eventually settling on Miss Martian who gasped. Her eyes quickly turned green, and Humanite aimed the weapon for the vines instead. In a hot blast, their organic bonds were destroyed, and the three teenage heroes sped towards the shadows.

Ivy watched through narrowed eyes as Robin zipped past her into the shadows of the trees.

"Sorry Boy Wonder. I'm putting an end to your Reconnaissance mission."

She aimed more at her plants at the bird who dodged each one smoothly. However, he was moving further and further away from his goal. Swift saw him make a signal and took out her war fans. She swiped with them in a graceful arc and blew out a sizeable super breath at the plant controlling woman, knocking her to the ground.

Ivy stumbled forwards as Robin jumped around her towards his partner whom she saw quickly through the corner of her eye.

"YOU!" Ivy's face contorted with rage.

"Long time no see Ivy," Swift smirked as she backflipped over a large vine about to grab her.

Robin cackled, and he aimed a birdarang which exploded upon impact with the plant. But several more appendages still aimed at the two of them. They dodged this way and that, slowly but carefully crawling closer to the Injustice Leagues Base

"Wow... Ivy's really on a roll today huh?" Robin puffed as he landed once again on a tree branch.

"No kidding" Swift huffed as she landed on the branch of an adjacent tree.

No matter how much Swift sliced with her fans or Robin tried to blow them up and dodge them, the plant was not stopping to grow. Zatara was indeed right. The plants were imbued with a particular kind of magic in them.

They jumped out of the tree together sliding over the tops of its roots which promptly came to life beneath their feet. They jolted, and the two birds flew straight into the muddy ground a few feet away.

"Urghh" Swift groaned as she and Robin both sat up groggily. The plant was above them, its tentacles writhing as it geared itself for a final strike.

Then suddenly out of the blue they each exploded out of existence. There was the nasty squelching noise of the water trapped inside dropping to the earth as Miss Martian flew over to hover in front of them.

_Robin, Swift she's made contact._

_Artemis?_  Robin cocked his head to the side in confusion as a golden box passed over them in the sky.

 _No._ M'gann grinned at Swift who looked up at the sky as the air was distorted around a giant red shape.

The bioship came silently up behind the cage and hit Wotan, who seemed to be making it. Instantly the gold dissolved, and they saw the dark shapes of their teammates fall to the ground.

Unleashing her wings, Swift and Miss Martian both grabbed Robin by the arms and tugged him up with them into the sky.

They landed on the roof quietly.

 _Let's go!_ Swift nodded at her partner.

 _M'gann catch!_  Robin lazily threw some of his unarmed exploding birdarangs which the Martian caught with her telekinesis. Quickly as shadows, they managed to cover the tree with the glittering lights.

"Well, we did what we could" Robin shrugged before gesturing to Swift. "Care to do the honours?"

"It'll be my pleasure" Swift smirked, looking on Poison Ivy down below.

"My babies" As the green-skinned woman turned her head to look up; the bird girl pressed the trigger in her belt.

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

There was an almighty shriek from all around the three of them as the plant screeched in pain. As it went up in flames, a mighty sting shot through Swift's brain. She touched a hand to her temple and rubbed it. Maybe it was just the explosions?

She looked down at the muddy ground where Ivy glared up at them.

"Timber" Robin smirked at his partner.

Swift gave him a small smile but said nothing more. As she watched the plant's limbs smouldering around her, she knew deep down inside, that this pain in her head was not her own. It was the plants.

She didn't have time to dwell on this strange revelation for Ivy launched more of her "babies" at them.

Miss Martian used her telekinesis to destroy them quickly but was forced backwards by a beam of green energy.

Atomic Skull stepped forwards, the Joker standing behind him.

"Children? Children foiled our plan?" The Clown Prince of Crime growled furiously as Robin dragged Swift away by the hand as another one of Atomic Skull's energy beam hit close to them.

"Inconceivable! Unacceptable! Retributional! The last one might not be a word so sue me." His face split into an insane grin.

Robin and Swift both jumped off the building, the latter using her super breath to safely land them next to Miss Martian, who was groaning slightly from her fall. They helped her up quickly only to have to scatter as Atomic Skull landed behind them and fired another energy blast from his helmet.

Swift dodged through the battlefield trying to find a spot from which she could fight to good effect. She saw Wotan hovering above her and fired her last two exploding birdarangs at him.

"ENOUGH!" the sorcerer yelled as the smoke cleared. Swift gulped and saw he had constructed a magical golden bubble around himself like a shield. He looked down on her coldly as she backed away.

Wotan raised his palm, and a white-hot bolt of lightning shot out hitting Swift squarely in the chest. Over her cry of pain, she could hear the splashing of mud close by as someone came running over to her spot.

"Swift no! Argh!" Robin cried out as he too was hit by white lightning. One by one Swift heard her other teammates get hit by the magic beams.

In a blur, she saw Miss Martian fall before Aqualad's feet. She saw too the duffle bag from the bioship fall into his lap. One-handed Aqualad took out a golden helm. Wotan's lightening ceased as he stared wide-eyed at the Atlantean boy.

"The helmet of fate…" Swift breathed. She'd only ever seen illustrations of the famed magical artefact and had heard of its powerful spirit Nabu, who had long ago taken the host of the late Kent Nelson. It was said that once one put on the helmet, it would be difficult and close to impossible for the host body to take it off.

_But that means…_

Her eyes widened as she saw Aqualad hold the golden helmet high over his head.

Swift got to her feet as Kid Flash cried out.

"No Aqualad don't!" Kid Flash cried out, but he was knocked sideways by Black Adam. Superboy launched at the villain, once again engaging him in combat as a brilliant golden light shone through the clearing.

She rolled through the mud bumping hard into someone. The light soon cleared revealing a figure with a golden cape and armour over a dark blue suit.

"Kaldur…"

But the helmeted figure just looked down on her and Swift knew that by the look in his light green eyes behind the helm, her friend was no longer there. He looked at the red-clad sorcerer and flew in front of him.

"Wotan you are mine," Nabu said with Aqualad's voice.

Wotan glared and fired a beam of orange magic at Nabu who merely fired his beam of golden magic without batting an eye. The evil sorcerer slammed into the side of the massive dome as golden chains encircled him holding him in place.

"BOY WONDER YOU ARE MINE!" a loud deep voice said in a remarkable imitation of Nabu. Then there was a cackle of crazed mirth Swift turned and saw the Joker rush at her partner.

Robin landed a quick hit before ducking a fast stab attack to the eye. Swift came up behind, but her foot accidentally splashed in the water. The Joker heard her and used his peripheral vision aimed a deadly swipe, which she only managed to dodge just in time. She winced slightly as a tiny cut appeared on the bridge of her nose.

She stumbled backwards into Robin, and they panted.

The Joker looked on the two of them his insane smile widening. "Always wanted to carve these birds" he hissed.

Robin and Swift were forced to separate again as the madman lunged at the two of them aiming randomised swipes at whichever bird he could reach. For that was the Joker's forte, improvisation. It was what ultimately made him the opposite of Batman, Robin and Swift who all were planned, methodical thinkers. His chaos just made things even more difficult to handle.

Robin dodged another slice and flipped into a tree, much to Swift's chagrin. She'd been banking on Robin distracting the Joker long enough for her to land a knockout blow. Now the chance was blown, and with the sudden disappearance of his opponent, the clown turned upon the girl wonder, who fell onto her face as one of Poison Ivy's plants shifted beneath her feet under the muddy water.

Swift tried to get to her feet, but a gloved hand and a purple sleeve snatched at the roots of her hair.

"AHH!"

"Ohh-ho-ho! It looks like I get to play with daddy's little princess." the Joker licked out a knife from his pocket.

"Why so serious dearie? I thought you liked playing with Uncle J?" He cackled wildly as he licked his red lips. She reeled back in disgust and horror as he leaned in, slowly, tantalisingly the metal blade of his knife ghosting over the skin of her cheek.

"Now, let's paint a nice big smile over that pretty face of yours-"

Something sharp, black and metallic whirred in-between the Clown Prince and his prey, barely missing the pasty white nose. With a loud ting sound, the knife flew out of his hands and lodged itself in a tree trunk.

Swift saw her chance and kicked, sweeping the clown's legs from right under him. At the same moment, Robin's booted foot came smashing through, right into his long pasty nose.

There was a sickening crunch as the Joker fell to the muddy ground. Swift scrambled away from his body grabbing her partner's hands as he helped pull her to her feet.

"You alright?" he asked under his breath.

"Yeah" Swift replied shakily. No matter how many times she had faced Joker, he still freaked the living daylights out of her.

Sensing her fear, Robin squeezed her hand momentarily before letting go as their opponent got to his feet. He panted heavily but froze as something moved behind him in the shadows. He wheeled around.

Swift and Robin couldn't help the smiles of relief when they saw the Batman jump down from a green energy platform to face them. The white slits in the cowl were narrowed, and his body was geared as if to spring into a predator's pounce.

The Joker backed away from his nemesis smiling nervously as he joined the other Injustice League members, who seemed to have been corralled by the other members of the Justice League.

"It's over" Batman grunted as he stepped in front of his protégé's shielding them from view with his body.

Swift was pleased to see Poison Ivy and Count Vertigo shudder as his glared hardened on the group of super villains. They all put their hands up in surrender.

"There will be another day" Count Vertigo growled under his breath.

"Another day? Another DAY!" Joker cried out suddenly. Everyone jumped. Unlike the others, Joker had not put his hands up. He snarled at the Batman. "There won't be another day! Not for any of us! Ahahahahah!"

He cackled raising his hands above his head. The palms of his gloves glowed. There was a great gurgle from under the swampy grounds as slowly giant vines of the plant arose, like the tentacles of a giant octopus.

Swift watched in mounting horror as the redbuds that dotted the surface of the vines exploded in a mist of green.

"Joker Venom spores! Don't breathe!" Batman called out. He swooped in and clocked the Joker across the jaw, knocking him out hard.

Swift quickly sucked in a deep breath as Robin grabbed her to hide under his cloak. She could feel his heart's beats match her panicking ones as both did their best to not suck in any more of the toxic air even as they felt a small horrible giggle creep up on them both.

"Fear not!" came a loud declaration from high above. Swift looked up, her cheeks bulging as she held back the breath she so desperately wanted to release. Nabu in Aqualad's body was above them. He summoned up a golden symbol in the air him. With a giant sucking sound all the spores around them swooshed up towards him, but instead of engulfing him like usual, it was sucked into the symbol like a vacuum.

Swift watched in amazement as the last of the green smog was absorbed before the symbol disappeared into the air.

"Fate has intervened!"

Swift took her hand away from her mouth and gulped down a massive breath of clean air.

"Phew" Robin sighed in relief glancing at his partner, only to see her looking sadly up at the floating form of Doctor Fate above.

"Oh…right"

**_Fifteen minutes later_ **

"What were you thinking?!" Wally yelled at them all, striding over to Aqualad in Doctor Fate's uniform. The team looked on in a mixed state of disbelief and grief as Batman, Zatara and Captain Marvel stood by quietly, watching Wally's rant.

"How could you let him put on the helmet! Nabu will never release him now…Kaldur will be trapped inside Dr Fate…forever…"

There was a pause in which Dr Fate stared blankly at Wally. Swift might've laughed, but she did not. Instead, she buried her face into Robin's shoulder as he squeezed her into his side consolingly.

Their team leader, their friend…would be gone…forever…

"Kaldur..." She looked up, eyes pricked with tears as she met the light green eyes under the helmet.

She thought she saw his fingers twitch by his sides and for a split second the green eyes were warm and tender as they looked upon her, only to be quickly masked by blankness once more.

"Come on Kal wake up. Please." she breathed lips trembling as she stared into those green depths. "You can do it. I know you can. Fight it."

They stared at her for almost a full minute and then…

Everyone held their breath as a pair of golden gloved hands reached up towards the helmeted head.

There was a flash of golden light. Swift looked up from her spot and saw the tall, dark-skinned form of Aqualad in his stealth gear, holding onto the helmet and smiling softly.

Everyone stood in shock, but Kid Flash rushed forwards.

"Nabu let you go?"

"He almost did not" Aqualad sighed. It was a relief to hear his voice back to normal. "But your friend Kent was most helpful. He says hello."

Everyone grinned about to rush forwards and greet their friend, but Batman cleared his throat. Their faces fell slightly as they turned to him.

"We're done here. The super-secret villain society has been neutralised. As for your performance" his eyes roved over their nervous faces and inwardly he smirked, "It was satisfactory."

The team all grinned at one another. It wasn't every day someone impressed the Caped Crusader.

Aqualad's smile was wide indeed as he and his friends made their way over to the bioship. They'd all done well today and-

"Ow" he winced as he felt a small fist punch his shoulder, he turned to see Swift glowering at him, her yellow eyes bright with unshed tears.

"That was for putting on the helmet," she grunted snatching the Helmet of Fate and shoving it back in its duffel bag, before turning her back on him.

Yet Aqualad could see the burning red in her ears and hear her small sniffle as she scrubbed hard at her face.

His smile softened as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you" he murmured into her ear.

"For what?" she mumbled blinking back the last of her tears.

"For being there." he smiled "I heard you calling to me, and it really helped."

Swift opened her mouth, shut it, swallowed and then shook her head in aggravation.

"Yeah whatever, don't mention it. Let's just get back to the cave" she stalked off to her station in the Bioship, and though her face was beet red with embarrassment, she couldn't help the small smile that flitted across it.

Behind her, Aqualad smirked and shook his head fondly. Sometimes the Girl Wonder was too stubborn for her own good, yet he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

_**The Batcave, October 1 2010, 23:56 EDT** _

"Wahoo! Home Sweet Home!" Swift whooped.

"You can say that again!" Robin cried out behind her.

"We kicked plant butt" She accentuated the phrase with a punch to the air as she jumped out of the Batwing.

"We kicked super villain butt" Robin tore off his mask dramatically, becoming Dick once more. "We are so awesome!"

"That we are wonder boy!" Swift laughed as she too tore off her mask.

Batman shook his head fondly as he stepped out behind them. They had not stopped rambling about their mission since they'd gotten in the plane at the Bayou. He caught Alfred's eye as the old butler came down the stairs to greet them, pushing a trolley laden with three mugs of hot chocolate.

"I take it yours, and the young Miss and master's mission was a marvellous success Master Bruce?"

"Indeed, it was" Bruce sighed, pulling down the cowl and taking a mug. The two men watched as Dick flipped from the top of the stairs and tackled his partner into a hug from behind.

"Agh! Dick, not my hair you buffoon!" Christine giggled as Dick ruffled her hair.

"We should get your nose patched up" he laughed, eyeing the spot where the Joker's knife had scraped her. It was still bleeding a little but not too much.

"Dick it's just a small scratch" Christine huffed, only to flinch as her partner prodded at it.

"Ow! Quit it!"

"Quit what?" Dick asked oh-so-innocently, and she groaned.

"Agh! Yeah, real mature."

"Says the girl who was about to bawl her eyes out when Aqualad took off the Helmet of Fate."

"Hey, you were upset too-"

"Enough!" Batman barked, shaking his head in fond exasperation at his two protégé's "It's been a long night. You two hit the showers and go to bed."

Christine and Dick both rolled their eyes but made their way out of the cave without another word.

Behind his charge, Alfred watched until the two adolescents were out of sight before mumbling under his breath.

"Crying over a boy? My, my, the young mistress must like him a lot."

"What?" Bruce wheeled round to face his butler who tried to hide his smirk.

"Oh, nothing, Master Bruce" he replied airily picking up the discarded masks from the floor.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Bruce sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation.

"Picking up after my young charges? Yes, I daresay I do." The older man raised his eyebrows sarcastically placing the masks on the trolley "Honestly Master Bruce; I don't know why you're so upset. You're the one who brought them together as teammates in the first place."

He paused to watch the effect these words had on his master who squirmed uncomfortably.

"That may be" Bruce finally grumbled, "But I never planned for…whatever this is, to happen."

Alfred sighed "Nobody can plan when love shall spring. Nor can they foresee whom they shall choose to love. All that they will know is that what they feel for the other will be the most real thing they have ever experienced."

"Who said that?" the Dark Knight took a sip. It wasn't uncommon for Alfred to quote hundreds of famous phrases from people or books, but Bruce had never heard this one before.

The old man quirked an eyebrow. "I did. Just now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And episode 14 is down, and we are officially past the halfway mark! WHOOO!
> 
> Review if you guys enjoyed and see you next time
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	15. Humanity & Instability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * IMPORTANT: Blood and violence ahead in this chapter.
> 
> Hope it still fits in the T rating barrier.
> 
> YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*

_**Gotham City, October 10 2010, 01:32 EDT** _

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, Mam."

"Good, it's time for the first test."

"Yes mam, but why we are financing Mr Morrow's projects? How will his success benefit our schemes? All he has done is tinker with those lousy androids of his."

"HA! His success? And here I was thinking you had no sense of humour! It's only his "success" because we allow him to think it is so. That scientist is so damn proud that he conveniently forgot that the volcanic base was our idea! And as for benefits…I think we will be very well rewarded for our patience, as it has provided us with the perfect opportunity …hmmm…"

"Mam?"

"Leave! Now!"

"As you wish"

_Kreeeaak…Clack!_

….

"It's been a long time my little swiftlet…let's see if you can still squirm like you used to."

_Click._

_…_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep…_

_"_ Morrow. It's time"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 10 2010, 03:33 EDT** _

_Tap tap!_

A bright blue eye opened blearily

Now it is common fact that Dick Grayson was an early bird, but even three in the morning was pushing his limits.

 _Tap tap!_  They knocked again.

"Who is it?" Dick groaned, scowling foully. If it was Wally coming in to prank him again, he had another thing coming.

"Dick" a small feminine voice that defiantly did not belong to his best  **male**  friend hissed through the door. "Dick please open up"

Dick wiggled his feet out of the warm confines of his comforter and shuffled over to the door.

He swung it open, to reveal a blurry girl with messy long white hair wearing a red Wonder Woman tank top with blue track pants.

"Don't feel so good. Migraine." Christine leaned against the door frame, yellow eyes blurry.

"Come in" Dick yawned as he stood aside to let her pass.

She stumbled almost losing her footing, but Dick caught her and dragged her to his bed. He sat her down and turned on the lamp on his bedside table.

"Ah! Too bright" She cringed away from the light but Dick gripped her chin and held her steady. She really did not look well at all.

"Where does it hurt? Is the pain on one side?"

Christine nodded and pointed to the right side of her head.

"Have you taken some painkillers?"

"Couldn't find any, I thought you might have some with you. Now please turn the light off" she groaned leaning into him.

Dick wrapped an arm around her and shut off the light, plunging the two of them into darkness.

"Better?"

"Nope."

Christine felt the cold air as Dick pulled away and quickly grabbed at his shirt. There was a loud ripping sound as stitching came undone.

"Whoa! Easy there, tiger!" Dick chuckled feeling her clawed fingers dig into torn material over his shoulder. Feeling his way with his hands he tore the rest of what was once his T-shirt sleeve off.

"If you wanted me to tear off my clothes you could've just asked"

"You are an idiot you know that?" Christine rolled her eyes as she crawled over to the other side of the mattress to avoid looking at the bedside light he had turned back on.

Dick shrugged, grinning smugly "What can I say. I an idiot of many talents"

"…and modesty is  _certainly_  one of them…"

She leaned back onto the pillows and glared up at him as he pulled his hands up innocently "What can I say? I'm the Boy Wonder; the ladies just cannot resist my charm."

"Uh-huh. Sure" Christine winced as her forehead throbbed painfully again.

"Here, I'll dim down the light" Dick's smile softened as he dimmed the light down to the lowest setting before reaching out to place his palm over her forehead.

"Thank you" she mumbled closing her eyes. His touch was gentle and amazingly cold and soothing against the throbbing in her head.

"Hmm…you do have a fever," Dick muttered not sounding happy at all as he leant away from her with a frown.

"Stay right here. I'll go get Dinah"

"Dick it's the middle of the night. Dinah will be asleep-" Christine groaned but the Boy Wonder was having none of it.

"No, you're burning up like the fourth of July. Now come on let's get you checked up"

"Ugh! I hate checkups"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 10 2010, 16:58 EDT** _

Swift leapt out of the way as Superboy aimed a punch. He was getting better at his sparring, starting to think ahead rather than just solely rely on his animal impulse. But Swift was still the Batman's protégé. She ducked under his arm and aimed a sharp punch to his ribs.

Superboy winced as her little knuckle jabbed in-between a pair of his ribs and stepped to the side grabbing her arm and pulling her into a gentle lock.

"Not bad -AHAHAHAHAHA!" Swift burst out laughing as his large fingers swiped against her ribs quickly.

After taking some regular cold/flu medication, the team had allowed her to sleep in till midday until the last of her migraine had gone. However, it was only after a decent meal and a shower that she had even started to feel almost normal again, though still a bit under the weather.

"Conner! Ahahahaha! Stop!" she gasped trying to wriggle out of Superboy's hold.

"No way" the clone smirked shifting his hand to ruffle her hair.

There was a chuckle as a blonde woman in a black leotard and grey stockings strode over to them.

"Alright you two that's quite enough, you're supposed to be sparring not tickling" Black Canary then turned to look at the others as they lunged at each other. Aqualad was against Miss Martian, and Artemis was paired with Robin. A little bit away Wally reclined in a comfy armchair with a glass of pineapple juice in his hand watching them smugly.

He grinned and waved at Black Canary as she strode past him.

"Good work everyone" She gave them all a small smile before going over to stand in the middle of their training exercise. They all stopped and walked over to her.

"In fact, it's been a very productive week"

"Yeah. For everyone except Kid Malingerer," Artemis smirked gesturing towards the speedster as he took a noisy sip of his juice.

"Hey! Arm broken in combat against the evil Injustice League here" Wally groaned waving the cast.

"Oh, so what? You can't spar with the rest of your body?" Swift rolled her eyes at the speedster.

Black Canary shook her head in amusement.

"I've really enjoyed being your uh… den mother this week"

**_Recognised Zatara 11_ **

Swift's eyebrows rose as the magician stepped out of the portal and quickly summoned a holograph. After a moment of typing the zeta tube opened again.

**_Access Granted: Zatanna Zatara A03. Authorization Zatara_ **

"Oh!" Swift nodded in realisation as the tube whirred into action again.

"What?" Robin looked at her in surprise.

"It's his daughter" She whispered.

"And how would you know tha-" but he broke off as the figure of the young girl stepped out. Zatara looked at the team.

"Zatanna this is the team. Team this is my daughter Zatanna"

"Woah" Swift muttered, her throat now very dry.

Zatanna was cute. She had thick raven black hair and light blue eyes. She was dressed in a white shirt with a black camisole, a dark blue skirt, knee high socks and black shoes.

She smiled pleasantly at the team, and Swift couldn't help but blush a deep crimson. Even her smile was amazing.

_Oh, no girl. Just act cool act cool. Agh she's super cute. Shit is my hair looking okay? Does my breath smell?_

She did her best to avoid Wally knowing smirk beside her. Dick meanwhile was also gaping at the girl, his jaw almost dropping.

_Oh, great…looks like we're competing again._

Swift rolled her eyes behind her mask. Of course, her partner had to have the same taste in girls as her.

Miss Martian excitedly flew over their heads to greet Zatanna

"Hi, I'm-"

"Robin!" the Robin jumped in front of the Martian girl who jumped back surprised.

_Have to act natural! Have to be normal. What did I say earlier? Oh yeah, that's right. I'm the charming Boy Wonder. Charming being key._

"I mean I'm Robin. She is M'gann. And this is Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, Conner and Swift…my partner" Robin gave as charming a smile as he could but it looked a little like he had a toothache.

"Welcome to the cave" Aqualad nodded. He by far was the calmest out of the lot of them.

"Uh, thanks" Zatanna smiled shyly.

"So are y-y-y-y-you joining the team" Robin finished softly trying to ignore the narrowed eyes of his partner that bored into the back of his head. He just hoped she couldn't sense his nerves.

_Strange… since when did Robin ever stutter?_

Swift quickly relaxed her posture as Zatanna peered around to look at her curiously as her father addressed Black Canary. She gave a small wave.

"Hi."

"Hi" Zatanna waved back nervously glancing at the Girl Wonder's mostly covered face.

"Don't worry, I am human under all this. See?" Swift pulled down her mouth mask revealing her smirking lips.

Zatanna's sighed softly in relief

_Do the rest of you still get the feeling that we're still on probation with Zatara?_

Miss Martian's voice asked through the mental link.

 _Not just Zatara, I mean why is Marvel still hanging around?_  Superboy unfolded his arms and gestured towards the direction of the kitchen. Obviously, he could hear the leaguer inside.

 _Because we like having him around._  Wally smirked.

 ** _You_** _like having him around because he waits on you hand, and foot._ Artemis narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

 _And your point is?_ Wally raised his eyebrows gearing for another argument.

 _Oh god do the two of you ever stop bickering?_ Swift rolled her eyes.

 _It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's term here as our supervisor._  Aqualad agreed.

 _Yeah! At least he trusted us_  Robin folded his arms and pouted

Superboy glared at him

 _If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He was a traitor! That machine nearly got M'gan-all of us killed_!

 _Conner calm down! It's ok now._  Swift put a gentle hand on his shoulder. The furious look softened considerably.

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" Everyone turned as Zatanna stepped forwards into their midst "Cause I can't decide if that's really cool…or really rude"

There was a very tense pause as the entire team looked pointedly at Black Canary.

"Alright Fine!" Conner snapped, and the two adults immediately tensed "We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the League hasn't told us anything!"

Canary sighed.

"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that attacked the cave and T.O. Morrow, Batman has made tracking them down our highest priority"

"But you've found none of the above." Robin cried out.

"Not yet" Black Canary stepped forwards "But Tornado is Justice League. The team is NOT to pursue this"

"Of course we aren't!" Swift rolled her eyes. Canary raised an eyebrow at the girl but she just snorted and looked away.

Zatara stepped forwards quickly.

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a…uh…tour of the cave" he finished lamely looking around at them all.

Zatanna wasn't with them.

There was a small whine and they all turned to see the girl sitting with Wolf on the floor.

"Ah! Are you giving a tour? Cool" Captain Marvel strode into the room carrying a large plate with a whole heap of Nacho's covered in cheese, sour cream and dips.

"Actually, I was hoping you could take Wolf outside" Superboy watched as Wolf immediately came up to the leaguer looking at the plate with big round eyes "He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few"

"Sure sure! I can do that. Come on Wolf" Captain Marvel and Wolf both ran outside the latter panting with delight at the prospect of a walk and food both together.

"My-my Nacho's" Wally whined as Swift grabbed him by the shirt to follow the others as they headed to the common room.

"One more word about your precious Nachos and I'll turn you into one myself."

"Fine" Wally's pouted, but still, let her drag him behind to follow.

They both turned to see Artemis rolling their eyes at the speedster.

"Argh!" Swift winced a little and rubbed her temple.

"Another headache?" Wally rubbed her shoulder soothingly as she nodded.

"Yeah…but it's ok. I took the last painkiller several hours ago, so I'll take one before we go, and I should be tip top"

"Even so just take it easy today ok?" Wally grinned. Swift noticed through the corner of her eye that Artemis's scowl softened slightly upon seeing the mature side of the speedster come to the surface.

Swift smirked as she ran up to catch up with Robin, who was walking with Zatanna. The girl seemed to have changed into a purple top and beige pants within two seconds. She looked at Swift and sighed.

"We aren't really taking a tour, are we?"

Superboy and Aqualad both stopped ahead of them all and turned frowning.

"No! We're hunting down that robot" Superboy clenched his fist on the last word.

"Yes. We are." Aqualad nodded.

"Oh wow. Out loud and everything" Zatanna's eyebrows rose as she saw their determined faces.

"uh…What about the new girl?" Artemis looked a little nervously at Robin.

He shrugged.

"I'm sure she won't tell"

"I can't tell." Zatanna smiled slyly "Not if you kidnap me" she batted her eyelashes at Robin who flushed pink. Swift sighed under her breath.

_Well…I guess I lost this round. Figures the one girl I would tap is interested in my partner more than me._

"Oh, she's gonna fit in great" Artemis smiled as the team decided to walk around the corner towards the direction of the hanger. Swift hung back and when Conner looked back on her very worried she smiled.

"I'm just getting some painkillers to take with me. I'll meet you guys at the ship"

"ok" he mumbled but Swift saw that he found it difficult to turn away. Once he and the others were safely around she allowed herself to stumble back into the kitchen counter, ripping off her cowl from her head.

She grunted in pain as the room around her disappeared and she saw flashing in front of her eyes, a man tall and resolute standing before her in a sharp white suit with a dark hooded cloak and white owl mask over his face.

 _"How soon will she be ready?"_ he asked someone she couldn't see.

_"Soon Grandmaster. If all goes well with the next experiment she should be ready within the next fortnight"_

The man in the mask reached out towards her with a pale claw-like old hand.

_"Did you hear that little one. You will soon be out of your pod. Soon you will be mine. My strong…faithful little Tal-_

"Swift!"

Swift blinked. The man had vanished. She was still in the common room, her teammates and Zatanna all gone. No wait, not all of them had gone. Now only a dark webbed hand was waving in front of her face.

"Sorry. Just…just z-zoned out." She slid her own gloved hand across her brow and it was instantly soaked in her sweat. She was surprised to see that she was still standing. Usually, she fainted whenever she saw one of these visions.

_My body must be getting used to the stress_

"Where is everyone?" She quickly snatched the packet of pills, which had been lying on the counter the entire time.

"They've gone to show Zatanna the Bioship." Kaldur pressed his hand against her forehead. It was defiantly warmer than normal "are you sure you're feeling ok?"

"I'm fine! I've got the meds. Why? Oh wait, let me guess. Rob wants to ditch me here while he  _charms_  the pants off Miss Magic?" Swift snorted but Kaldur's frown deepened.

"I'm serious" he hissed "That fever you had this morning was really bad. Just don't overdo it."

Kaldur's large hand was cool against her forehead and she wished that it would stay there. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind it shifted to her cheek.

"Kal, it's just a migraine. Yes, it hurts like shit but I can still look after myself." She wasn't snapping at him, but her tone was firm as she touched the upheld wrist.

"I know it's just…I just don't want risk your safety when you're in this condition, that's all" he sighed softly.

The expression on his face was somewhere between fear, worry and sorrow. For all the calm, stoic front he presented to Batman, and usually the rest of the team, the Atlantean boy could really be a big worry wart. She shut her eyes gently and leaned into his hand. It was rough but still nice, and it smelled salty like the sea.

"Alright how about this, I'll stay in the Bioship and man the coms when we go out. I won't go on the front lines unless there is an emergency."

"No, you will call the league if it is an emergency and stay in the ship" Kaldur quirked an eyebrow and Swift rolled her eyes.

"Kal-" but she stopped abruptly as he looked down on her with those worried pale green eyes. He really seemed genuinely scared this time.

"Swift…please?"

"Oh alright I'll call the league…" she huffed folding her arms "But you've gotta promise me that you'll be careful too. No Helmet of Fate crap again or I'll chuck both you and that thing into a volcano."

"Don't worry, it won't happen again." Kaldur let himself chuckle. "Especially since I've got you with me-a-and the team" he added with a cough. "I-I mean with you and the team-"

"There you go again with the one-liners, lady killer" Swift smirked only to stumble next to the kitchen counter.

"Careful" He quickly caught her, though it forced her to land in his chest.

"Uh…sorry" she blushed with embarrassment as he quirked a brow down on her with a smirk.

"Hmm, apparently a sick Swift is a very clumsy Swift too."

"Hey! Not funny." she laughed playfully smacking his chest, though he caught her hand in his with a wide smile.

She giggled, and he chuckled. With her free hand against his chest, she could feel his heartbeat pounding robustly, though it did flutter a little as she caught his gaze. His large webbed hand slid down to rest on the side of her petite waist-

"Yo! Kal, Swift are you guys coming or-Whoa"

Kaldur and Swift both turned their heads sharply to see Kid Flash and Artemis standing next to the couch, staring at the two of them.

"Oh hey… Wally… Artemis…" Swift gulped nervously. Her face now felt like it was burning in a supernova.

The archer's eyes were wide like saucers, but the speedster was looking positively smug.

"Do you two need a moment?"

"No!" Kaldur and Swift both yelled in unison as they let go of each other, blushing scarlet. After a minute of brushing the imaginary dust from her uniform Swift asked airily:

"Is everything set to go?"

"Yep," Artemis popped the "p" as she too grinned. "M'gann's got the ship ready and New Girl's strapped in.

"Is Rob with her?" Swift looked at Wally who nodded.

"He's waiting for you to meet him in the back of the ship. He wants to go over the mission parameters with you and Kal while the rest of us," he pointed to himself, Artemis "create a distraction for Canary and Zatara"

"Good, the last thing I-we need are more mollycoddling adults telling us what to do"

The other three exchanged worried glances.

"Are you talking about Canary or Batman-" Artemis started but Swift glared at her so darkly that she clamped her mouth shut at once.

"Does it really matter which adult? They're going to try to stop us finding Tornado anyhow" she clenched her fist irritated as another wave of pain flashed across her head. She took a deep shuddering breath.

"Let's go. We've got a robot to dismantle"

Swift leaned back in her chair looking out her window seat. She narrowed her eyes as she caught the faded reflection in the glass of Superboy on the opposite end. He looked very grim and very tense and she was in no doubt why. It seemed the term "little discussion" was now a new code for everyone to tell her to stay put and rest up like a little child. She knew they were worried about her, but couldn't they trust her to look after herself. She'd managed to do that just fine before any of them were a team so what difference would it really make?

Swift gulped as she met Aqualad's gaze in the glass from his spot beside the Super Clone. Both Girl Wonder and Atlantean were quick to blush a little as they both quickly turned away from one another, instead choosing to focus on Zatanna and Robin who were both sitting in front of her flirting constantly.

Just what was with her today? She and Kal were good friends horsing around. She did that all the time with Conner and Robin and she didn't feel so awkward like this. Amidst the growing throbbing in her head, she felt her heart flutter as she remembered his large webbed hand on her waist, the upward quirk of his smirking lips, the way those pale eyes had stared down into her own yellow ones as he had held her close-

_NO! No, don't think like that! We're just good friends! GOOD FRIENDS!_

She shook her head, missing the way Miss Martian bit her lip as she watched her.

_She still looks real sick Kal. Are you sure it's okay to bring her along?_

The Martian girl turned to look at Aqualad who sighed softly.

_If she doesn't stress herself, I'm sure she will be fine. We have enough medical supplies here on the ship, and Robin already talked her into staying back and manning the coms so she can stay safe from the action._

_What if we call Batman and tell-_

Artemis chimed in hopefully, but Kid Flash cut across her firmly.

_No! If we call Bats he'll figure out what we're doing and bench us all._

_Then Wonder Woman or Superman-_

Miss Martian suggested hopefully but Superboy shook his head.

_NO! **He'd**  probably tell Batman and we'd still get in trouble._

_Is he still not talking to you?_

Miss Martian asked worriedly as she picked up the venom in her boyfriend's tone.

_I don't want to talk about it._

Superboy's scowled darkly.

_Conner, seriously it's bad enough that Swift and Batman can glare like that._

Kid Flash shuddered. Artemis snorted, and he turned to glare at her.

_What are you snickering about?_

_I'm not snickering_

She snapped folding her arms.

_It's just that finally we seem to agree on something._

Kid stiffened in shock. Well, he had certainly not expected that kind of response.

There were a beeping sound and Black Canary's suspicious voice issued through the communicator.

" _M'gann. The Bioship was not authorised for departure"_

"We're kidnapping Zatanna" Miss Martian squeaked in surprise and received the psychic equivalent of an elbow to the ribs through the mental link. "To show her Happy Harbour. Be back soon."

There was a very tense pause as they waited for the Leaguer to answer them.

"R _oger that…have fun_ " there was a beep as Black Canary shut off the comlink from her end.

Everyone sighed in relief. Robin swivelled his chair around to face his teammates.

"So where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective and he's searched for Tornado and Morrow in every possible location"

"Not completely true Robin" Swift sunk back into her chair and stared at the ceiling as she rubbed her aching temple "Batman has only searched in every  **logical** location."

"So if we're gonna do better we're going to have to have an illogical solution. A truly dumb idea" Robin nodded in comprehension.

"Yep and that's pretty easy to find" Swift smirked as she turned around in her seat. The others followed her gaze expectantly only to lay eyes on…Kid Flash gazing out a window grinning.

He caught their glances and swallowed nervously.

"As a matter of fact…"

* * *

_**Belle Reve, October 10 2010, 18:35 EDT** _

The Team and Zatanna all stood in front of a table from which a small old middle-aged man sat behind. He glared with narrowed eyes at the three especially at Swift as she leaned against a wall, arms folded, the white slits of her mask narrowed directly at him studying his facial cues.

_He's going to be a tough one to crack_

She notified the team through the mental link.

_Nonetheless, we have to try_

Aqualad glanced at her as Miss Martian leaned over the table, all her usual sweet perkiness replaced instead with a nasty glare

"Warden Strange owed us a favour for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with  **you**."

"Spill it Ivo!" Superboy cried out angrily "How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?"

"Now why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo gave Superboy a very bored look.

"Because, and here's a very dumb idea" Kid Flash stepped forwards "You're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game. Who better could keep track of what he's up to and where?"

"Ah, I see your point. So, let me rephrase" Ivo twiddled his thumbs amusedly as he leant forward in his chair. "Why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?"

"Maybe I could help you figure that out?" Swift cracked her knuckles threateningly making the man in the chair gulp apprehensively despite himself. Aqualad stepped forwards quickly and pulled her arms down.

"He knows. Do what you must" he said to Miss Martian before shooting Swift a warning look that he usually spared for Kid Flash and Artemis whenever the two of them bickered. Swift scowled at him and folded her arms as she watched Miss Martian's eyes glow green.

Ivo leant back in his chair and laughed. "Oh please! As if I've never faced a telepath before"

He turned to look to his side and at once Zatanna was there she leant over the table scowling and a string of what seemed like gibberish spewed out of her mouth though Swift immediately translated it in her head.

"Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol! [blurt out Morrow's true location!]"

And it happened again, Swift saw for the smallest of moments a wisp of white slip from Zatanna's mouth and right into Ivo's ear.

Instantly the man went rigid and he spoke in a fast monotone. "Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone national park one hundred meters south of Old Faithful"

Everyone's eyes were wide like saucers, including Ivo himself. "W-wait what just happened?" he clamped a hand over his mouth in horror. Zatanna straightened up smirking smugly as she went back to stand next to a very stunned Robin.

"Girl, will you marry me?" Swift gaped at Zatanna who giggled and gave her a playful wink.

A few moments later, the guards came in to take a still very shocked Ivo back to his cell and the team made their way back to the ship. Robin was talking animatedly to Zatanna about what she just did.

Swift turned away to look at the walls trying to ignore the pounding that had just started up again in her head, unaware that she was being watched carefully by Aqualad.

He frowned slightly as she leaned against the wall. Her skin was paler than ever, and despite how she tried to hide it her body was shaking slightly from having to hold herself up. He clenched his fist. He knew she was Batman's protégé but still…was it so difficult for her to trust them to help her when she was suffering? Weren't they friends.

Even as he said this, the memory of the kitchen wafted over the Atlantean's brain and he felt his ears all but burn.

He sighed and pinched his nose. What was wrong with him? Swift was his second in command, his friend. He should know better than to start flirting with her. For one thing it was unprofessional, and secondly, she was the Batman's protégé/daughter. Neptune forbid something happened and the founding Justice Leaguer would be out for his blood.

Yet no matter how hard he tried he could not shake her smile or giggles out of his head. It wasn't like the eerie creepy giggle she did on purpose while fighting crime. No, this one had been a genuinely happy musical laugh, one that he found himself hoping he'd hear again soon.

Or at least when she was feeling better.

He saw Zatanna sidle closer to Robin as they hopped onto the Bio-Ship and he frowned.

This wasn't right. Aqualad was the team leader but Robin was her partner. How could he even think of flirting with another girl when his supposed sister figure was suffering before his very eyes?

Aqualad sighed before clearing his throat loudly, turning to Miss Martian.

"Lockout all external communication. Black Canary, Zatara, Batman too I imagine will know of our…visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time"

"Look I'm trying to be all nonchalant here" Robin looked at Zatanna who turned back to him smirking.

"Why? Be as chalant as you like."

_Oh god! Word destruction? She's all your Boy Wonder._

Swift leant back and closed her eyes as the sounds of her friend's voices turned into pleasant drones. She peeled off her mouth and eye masks relishing in the cool relief that washed over her face like a wave. She could hear Artemis talking in the distance and Conner grunting moodily. Then there was a tapping sound behind her. She swivelled her seat around just as someone walked over to sit next to her.

"Hey Kid" She smiled at Wally, hoping that she didn't look like a train wreck.

"Hey" Wally grunted as he snagged a bite of his granola bar. "How're you feeling?"

"Lousy." Swift groaned.

"Here." Wally handed her a cool pack "Got it from the back of the ship. Captain's orders" he added with a smirk towards the back of the ship where Kaldur was awkwardly doing his best to pay attention to Zatanna and Robin's flirting. He failed though as he kept glancing over at her and Wally suspiciously every two seconds, much to the speedsters amusement.

"So, you and Kal-" Wally smirked and Swift groaned softly.

"Oh please don't start teasing me again."

"Don't worry I'm not" Wally nudged her shoulder gently "You really like him, don't you?"

Swift looked sidelong at her friend. Though he was smiling, his eyes were serious as he awaited his answer.

"Is it that obvious?" she murmured, as she put the cool pack to hide her whole face on the pretence of trying to soothe her headache.

"Like a train wreck" Wally snorted, and despite herself, Swift smirked.

"I know he seems all stoic and distant but he's actually a really nice, funny guy." She sighed "I don't know why everyone seems so against the idea-"

"We're not against it." Wally huffed softly "Or at least I know I'm not, and neither is M'gann because she totally been shipping the two of you since day one-"

Swift rolled her eyes but still let him continue.

"-And Arty  _was_  against it, especially during the whole mole thing, but she's kinda getting on board now. Rob and Conner, they're well…y'know" Wally shrugged and Swift nodded "The point is, we just tease you because you get so defensive and flustered about it. Truth is, it's really nice that you two are so simpatico and if or when you guys do get together…well…you've got my support."

Swift opened her mouth, shut it, swallowed and then smiled.

"Thanks, KF" she punched his shoulder affectionately.

"Ow! Hey! Rob, your partner, punched me!"

"Oh grow a pair Walls! It wasn't that hard" she rolled her eyes and in front of her Zatanna and Robin, both laughed. That was until Superboy's fist hammered down angrily on his ship console.

"What's our ETA to Yellowstone?!" Conner, he growled as everyone wheeled around to face him in shock. "I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor!"

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Kaldur asked his tone stern but calm even as the clone rounded on him furiously.

"Aren't you?!"

"I am not convinced," Kaldur admitted glancing at the floor. "Yet, even so, it makes him but the victim of his creator's programming. Certainly, he deserves a chance to prove he is more than the weapon others designed him to be" He looked pointedly back up at the super clone.

Conner was quick to turn back to face the front of the ship, eyes shut solemnly. He had no argument for that statement. If it hadn't been for Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Swift he might never have made it out of Cadmus alive. Worse he might've become their enemy and the league would've destroyed him, never giving him the chance to have a normal life like he did now.

It seemed the others were thinking along the same vein of thought as they dwindled into contemplative silence.

Swift looked out her window. In her mind's eye, she could see that strange white masked man putting his old wrinkled talon-like hand up to a glass pod filled with liquid.

_Who was that guy? That Grandmaster…_

She looked down at her own, smooth slender claw-like hand.

_Why does he sound so familiar? And what on earth was that place I was in? Why can I see it so clearly?_

Absentmindedly her fingers reached up to trace the outline of the dog tags and owl pendant that sat beneath her uniform.

_Do the Court of Owls really exist? If so, are they the ones pulling the strings behind all this crap I've been facing? and what do they know about my mother's operation?_

She sighed softly and ran a hand over her head.

_Just what does it all mean?_

* * *

_**Yellowstone National Park, October 10 2010, 20:22 MDT** _

Swift was sleeping when the Bioship gave a slight thud. With a small cry, she fell into Artemis, who had been sitting next to her, and the two of them fell onto the floor.

"Owww…" they both groaned as Kid Flash and Superboy helped them both up, the latter cradling Swift in his arms like one would a kitten.

"Thank's Conner" Swift mumbled as he settled her back onto her chair. "are we here already?"

"Yes. Everyone. Stealth mode" Aqualad announced.

Everyone, except for Swift and Robin, pressed their insignias and quickly changed their costumes to their darkened stealth modes. As they did so, Zatanna was quick to magically change clothes again into a costume that mimicked her father's magicians suit, though she wore a leotard with tights instead of pants.

_What I wouldn't give to be able to do that_

Swift groaned enviously at the magician girl who had turned to leave with the rest of the team down the ramp. All save Kaldur who had stayed put where he stood.

"I'll come in a few!" He nodded at Robin, who was trailing behind the group, eyeing them suspiciously. As soon as he was gone, Kaldur strode over to Swift and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to man the ship on your own?" he murmured.

Swift sighed "You worry wart, I'll be fine. Just make sure to keep in telepathic contact. I'll try and keep track of the area with the computers and coordinate you guys along the right path."

"Very well but if you feel worse, find a safe spot and rest. Robin will take your place as coordinator until you are ready to come back to the computers. If things get out of hand-"

"Contact the league, I know" Swift huffed rolling her eyes "Sheesh! You're beginning to sound like Batman now"

"I'll take that as a compliment" Aqualad smirked as he rested his hand over her still slightly warm forehead. "But please…be careful alright?"

"You too." she gulped as his fingers trailed down to her cheek. He stared at her for a moment, and Swift was fiercely reminded of that moment just before he'd taken doctor fate's helmet barely a week ago.

"Yo! Aqualad, you ready yet, we gotta go!" Robin's voice called out from outside the ship.

"I guess I'll see you when we get back" Aqualad's voice was a soft deep murmur that almost had Swift wobbling at the knees.

"Yeah…sure…good luck" she mumbled, feeling her entire body now burn as he stepped away and ran back down the ramp.

As she saw his back disappear, she heard M'gann's voice smirk in her head.

_Don't worry; we'll bring him back safe and sound._

_Oh, shut up M'gann._  Swift rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help the small smile creeping over her face as she touched a hand to her burning cheek.

_Agh…Dad's gonna kill me when he finds out about this._

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed since the team had departed for the volcano where T.O. Morrow's lair was supposed to be. Swift had kept the ship in the same spot in camouflage mode, only to have to break away from the job as her headache got worse.

 _Sorry, Rob…_  She grumbled over the team's telepathic link.  _I just can't look at the screen anymore. I feel very-_

 _It's okay, Missy. We can all feel it._ Robin assured her, panting a little as he ran through dense forest with the rest of the team. She could feel them all wincing as they caught the aftershocks of her migraine through the link.

 _Christ girl, that really hurts. Why didn't you stay behind in the cave?_ Artemis scowled, but Swift could feel that her tone was more worried than angry.

 _Sorry._ Swift mumbled as she rested her head against her cool console before her.

 _Don't apologise._ She heard Conner grunt in her head.  _Go rest._

_Conner's right. Besides M'gann can summon the bioship anytime, right babe?_

Wally asked M'gann who nodded vigorously.

_Of course, I can. You go and rest up okay._

_Okay, okay. Just contact me if there's an emergency okay._

_Okay._

And with that, she felt all their presences in her head disappear.

_Thank Christ._

She sighed softly to herself only to groan as she heard her com beep loudly.

_Crap, Dad's found out. Oh well, since I can't be useful for catching Tornado I guess I better take one for the team._

She sighed heavily as she quickly picked up the Com and dashed out of the bioship. The last thing she wanted was her embarrassing lecture to be recorded by the ship's computer.

Once she was safely outside the ship, she quickly stuffed her com into her ear and sighed.

"Hello?"

"Hello my little swiftlet." a cold voice hissed in her ear.

Swift froze.

She knew that voice. It belonged to a tall sultry woman with a short wavy blonde bob and blue-green hazel eyes…eyes she knew were sneering venomously at her as she breathed.

"You!"

"Yes, my dear. It is me." The woman chuckled mockingly into her ear. "How are you? You don't sound too good, are you feeling well?"

"What the hell do you want?" Swift shuddered as the woman on the other end chuckled.

"Can't a woman simply call her dear daughter to check up on her?"

"Not when a woman is a bitch like you," Swift growled, doing her best to ignore the crawling itch under her skin. "First the attack on the Hall of Justice, then the Cave-"

"Hmm, that was a good one wasn't it?" her mother smirked maliciously. "Too bad you weren't there with your friends when it all went down."

"But why?" Swift breathed "Why are you doing this? What could my death, or the death of my friends possibly give you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Whelp?" the woman purred silkily, and Swift could almost smell the cigarette smoke even as she sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm stronger than you think."

"Oh really? I suppose with your new powers, you have gained a little bit of an edge." Her mother snorted sardonically. "But when it comes to true power, you, my dear, are in very short supply. You can hide behind your dear godfather and teammates, but you'll never be able to escape my net. Just like your dear papa couldn't-"

"Shut up!" Swift's eyes burned with wet salt. How dare she, how dare she bring her father up. How dare she even mention his presence-

There was a rustle of leaves nearby and Swift wheeled about, hands flying to her utility belt as she looked around for the source of the sound.

"You're weak…" Red Queen's voice sneered into her ear as the rustling continued, this time from a different spot. "You were born weak…you'll die weak, just like him."

"He's not dead!" Swift cried out, a tear escaping her despite herself. She could feel her head pounding worse than ever, or was that her heart thudding? She couldn't tell the difference; everything was swimming, sounds, sight, the taste of something hot and dry on the air as the ground trembled.

**_KABOOM!_ **

Swift tripped over her feet, coughing and hacking hard as the earth began to shake violently around her.

She now noticed too that the winds that blew past her were scorching and carrying the smell of ash and Sulphur. She looked up and gasped at the sight that greeted her. The mountain in the distance had exploded. Glowing red and yellow streams of hot molten rock oozed out of the top while dark plumes of black smog and smoke billowed out into the air, turning the whole sky dark.

_But isn't that where the team was looking for…_

Swift gasped between sobs of pain. "You-you helped Morrow."

"I was his main financier, yes" she heard her mother take a puff out of her cigarette. "Quite an incredible sight isn't it? And to think that it will all be over in a few moments. Not even the Justice League will be able to stop it. No one can stop nature."

"That isn't nature…you forced it to happen." Swift gave into her pain and wretched, expelling the bile from her system.

"Perhaps" her adversary snorted into her ear "Pity I couldn't arrange for Batman to come and watch you fall like this. It really would be entertaining."

"I haven't fallen yet" Swift gasped.

"No." her mother hissed quietly "but you will very soon."

Something glinted in the corner of her eye, and Swift quickly dodged, flinging herself as a large shape lunged at her from the nearby trees.

They were tall, garbed all in black with a dark red visor covering their eyes. Over their mouth, they wore a black respirator and over the right side of their chest, they had a chess knight in a red circle emblazoned in a bright crimson. In his hands was a dark red metal lance.

"Get her." Red Queen grunted.

_Shit! Shit! Shit!_

Swift thought as she saw the Red Knight charge at her.

Quickly she dodged to the side, darting and blocking his thrusts with his weapon as he backed her towards the Bioship.

_Gotta get out of the corner! Got to get out of the corner._

Swift gulped, adrenaline blocking out most of the pain in her head as she forced herself to duck under his reach, arming herself with her purple metal war fans.

She managed to block more of his swipes, only to cry out in pain as one jab slipped past her defences and scraped by her shoulder.

She winced as she felt the sharp metal slice her arm but, kept her guard up, aiming a kick to his middle.

He stumbled back, dropping his lance, but was quick to gain his footing in time to meet her own punch. He blocked, and counter struck with an uppercut that she quickly blocked before aiming her own fist into his face.

It hit him straight on the bridge of his nose, shattering the red visor he wore.

With a great big shove, he threw the younger girl off him, tossing his shattered headgear aside as he did so.

"You really shouldn't have done that" the Red Knight growled as Swift scrambled up to her feet, nursing her jaw. She could taste hot salty iron in her mouth and feel one of her teeth rolling around on her tongue.

She spat it out at the man as he stalked over to her, spraying his face with blood and saliva, using his distraction to reach up and rip his respirator off, just as he ripped her cowl from her head.

What she saw made her heart sink in her chest.

It was the face of a young man. He had dark brown hair, bright amber eyes and a prominent scar slashed diagonally across his thin sneering lips.

"Hello, Christine. Miss me?"

"Ishan?" Swift's yellow eyes widened. "But…you…it can't be you-you're supposed to be dead…"

There was a silence as the two of them stared at one another, both panting for breath.

Meanwhile in her ear, Swift could hear her mother's smirk.

" _You see my dear. It's only been two years, but your dear friend already has surpassed you in many ways thanks to my teachings."_

"You could be better too if you joined the Hand of Eight. Think of it. The two of us fighting side by side, facing the world  _together_ " Ishan's lip curled raising a hand to stroke her messy white hair from her face.

Unlike how it had been with Kaldur, Swift felt her entire insides shiver with disgust, and she took a step back.

"No. I said it before, and I'll repeat it. I will never join you, either of you." Her fists shook by her sides "Not after what you did to your parents."

"My parents were weak-" Ishan scoffed.

"No, they loved you!" Swift cried out angrily, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"They held me back." Ishan spat "But your mother…the Red Queen, she helped me. She taught me how to see the truth. She can help you too-"

He quickly paused and looked around.

Swift felt it too. The tremors were dying down, and the smoke wasn't billowing from the volcano anymore.

"Damn" Ishan snarled.

"No…NO!" her mother roared in her ear. "NO! This cannot be-"

"You might have your Knights  _mother_ " Swift smirked, "But I've got a team."

She lunged forwards, fist colliding with Ishan's jaw. He was quick to counter with a knee into her ribs only to dodge as one of her claw-like hands swiped for his face and scratched it.

"Enough with this squabbling, finish her!" Red Queen screeched over the link.

"With pleasure my queen" Ishan growled, wiping his bleeding cheek. With a savage swipe, he backhanded Swift across the face, amber eyes flashing angrily as he grabbed her by the roots of her hair with one hand and reached down to his belt with the other.

She only saw the flash of silver for a split second before the knife plunged itself into her stomach.

"AGH!"

"You should've watched your tongue  _brat_!" her mother snarled into her ear as the blade twisted further into her guts. "It might've saved your life."

Swift gasped as she felt her legs buckle beneath her. Warm red oozed down her front over her purple utility belt, staining it as she clutched at the knife still embedded into her body.

"Where should I put her now Mam?" Ishan stared down blankly at her as he shoved her down onto her back to lie there, the knife sticking out of her like an arrow in a target.

"Dump her back on her ship. I want Batman to have a good look at what happens when he dares mess with me again."

Swift was so exhausted that she barely struggled as a pair of hands carefully picked her up and carried her back into the Bioship.

"Get off me!" she gasped, agony gripping her as she squirmed out of his grip.

She shrieked in pain as she landed on the floor with a thud, the blade in her stomach twisting within her painfully, even as she struggled to lean heavily against the foot of the seat at the ship's helm.

"Till next time,  _Christine_ " Ishan sneered, flicking his leg out to kick her in the face. There was a crunch as her nose broke asunder, and she spluttered and choked as warm blood now dribbled down over her lips to mingle with the blood bubbling from her mouth.

She was so disoriented she could barely see straight even as he turned his back on her and strode out of the bioship.

She reached down to touch the knife in her stomach, but quickly stopped herself.

If there was one thing, the years of working in the dangerous streets of Gotham had taught her it was that you never pulled out the knife you'd been stabbed with unless you wanted to bleed to death.

No. She'd just have to make sure she kept the wound staunched for as long as she could stay awake, which was not long at all.

_Must…get…help…_

She coughed, a bubble of red bursting from her lips as she reached up with slow shaking hands to one of the globes at the helm.

She could feel her whole body losing strength even as her fingertip touched the base of the chair. A streak of red smeared the seat as she gingerly hoisted herself up to lean back against it, one hand carefully hovering over the handle of the knife within her as she desperately tried to keep it from moving.

It took all the strength she had, but finally, after almost a full careful minute, she managed to hoist herself into the helm and give it an order.

_FIND the team. HURRY!_

* * *

"There, that should do it" Robin smirked as he stepped back from his workstation.

They were in the secret lab hidden in the base of the now cooled down volcano. Everything was quiet and dormant, and the team were enjoying a few minutes of calm as the boy wonder had set to work fixing Red Tornado's vocal controls.

"Yes I can speak again," the android said, laying still on the long slab half his body was laid over.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet" Aqualad walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"The planet would've survived; it was humanity that was saved. Though not by me. My sister and brother were the true heroes this day" Red Tornado said blankly.

"My point is this. You were never the mole, never a traitor."

"No. I left you to protect you from further attack and to find my creator, Morrow."

"Cool! Souvenir!" Kid Flash grinned as he and Robin both picked out some spare robotic parts from a nearby container.

"Great we can rebuild you better than you were before." Robin held up the lower half of a robotic leg.

"I do not believe I should be repaired" Red Tornado responded solemnly much to Superboy's annoyance and anger as he rounded on him.

"Why did you agree to be our den mother in the first place?"

"I was the pragmatic choice," Red Tornado said bluntly "I do not require sleep, I do not have a secret identity or second life to lead"

"But you  _do_  have advanced A.I. programming designed to learn, adapt, evolve!" Kid's grin grew wider as realization dawned.

"Hello, Megan! You wanted to become more human" Miss Martian smiled at Artemis who snorted folding her arms.

"And you couldn't do that with the league; they're stiffs."

"And you're sure not going to learn emotion from Batman, trust me" Robin smirked.

"Then the cave was not only a proving ground for us but you as well" Aqualad looked down at the android with a raised brow.

"I do not know if these statements are accurate. But perhaps…they are true. And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to… _care_ about you all."

There was a pause in which the whole team smiled at one another.

Even the grumpy Superboy couldn't help but smirk a little as he said:

"See? Practically a meat bag already."

"Which reminds me, I must find the true Morrow and see what has become of him."

"Good idea. But first, let's get your legs working again" Robin grinned as he put the robotic leg on the slab beneath the point where the android's legs had been burnt off.

"And maybe get some snacks from the bioship while we're at it" Kid Flash grunted as his stomach began to growl.

"She's already on her way" Miss Martian checked telepathically, frowning a little as she concentrated on it "Wow, she's moving fast."

"There is a hangar bay on the east side of the mountain that can be accessed from this lab." Red Tornado explained as Robin quickly set to work on hacking into the lair's computer systems.

"Got it. Hangar bay is open."

"Good, M'gann, Superboy and I will go and get supplies from the bioship while you and Kid Flash finish repairing Red Tornado's legs. Artemis, Zatanna you two stay here and keep a lookout on the volcano's security systems for any sign of trouble" Aqualad ordered.

The rest of the team nodded, and quickly Miss Martian and Superboy both followed Aqualad out the door.

"I wonder if Swift's okay" was Superboy's first words as they walked down the long dark rocky corridor.

"I didn't hear her response when I tried contacting her just now" Miss Martian chewed her lip anxiously.

"She might be resting off her headache. After all, she didn't get much sleep last night, did she?" Aqualad suggested, though he too couldn't help but feel in his gut that something was very wrong.

It wasn't like Swift not to respond to M'gann's summoning's through the mental link, no matter how tired or grumpy it made her.

He frowned as he and the others entered what appeared to be a large cavern, with a huge platform just before them. There just above it, the bioship was gently floating down towards the ground where it parked itself, the ramp lowering to allow them on.

Even as they walked towards it, Superboy put a hand on both his friend's shoulders to stop them.

"Conner, what is it? What's wrong?" Miss Martian asked her boyfriend worriedly his face as white as chalk as his nostrils sniffed the air.

"Blood" he whispered, his whole body now trembling head to toe "I can smell blood"

Aqualad's heart stilled in his chest as he turned back to face the ship. That was when he saw it. There on the ramp were several drops and streaks of red.

"M'gann wait!" he cried out, panic seizing him in its icy grip as the Martian girl flew away from both him and Superboy and into the ship.

There was a moment's pause…then a scream of terror.

* * *

**_Watch Tower, October 11 2010, 07:03 EDT_ **

Batman sat at the head of the Justice League council room trying to stifle a yawn. He was tired. It had been his shift for monitor duty on the Watchtower and he'd been at it all night. During his vigil, immense energy readings came up on the system monitors.

It wasn't unusual. The sensors on the watchtower were always hypersensitive to the seismic events of the globe and as such, it was not unusual for them to be alerted to volcanic eruptions.

So, he was astonished when he saw a large dark cloud blot out a dark grey smoke over the night clouds above a point in North America. Batman could remember typing furiously away at the computers. Whatever the event it was powerful to the point that the readings were quite literally flying off the charts. But that was not what made it unusual. No, the odd bit was that it had only lasted half an hour before suddenly stopping in its tracks.

He remembered feeling very confused. Natural disasters could be quick to happen, but even they did not just suddenly stop in the middle of their processes. He continued observing that area of the globe for the rest of the night, but nothing had presented itself.

So, once Hawk Woman had come up to relieve him of his duties he had called for an immediate emergency meeting.

Batman looked around the table at the people he'd called. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal), Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and Green Arrow were all here. Black Canary should've been there too as she was a prominent member but she was still probably at the Cave with the sidekicks. Batman and Green Arrow shared a scowl; she was never usually half an hour late for a meeting.

But then again, Black Canary was having an unusually good time babysitting at the cave this week. Batman could remember that Tuesday when he and Green Arrow had walked into the Cave's common room to find all the teens sitting around Black Canary as she sat on a couch retelling a particularly amusing story about how the League had all been turned into animals by Morgan Le Fay. Poor Oliver went beetroot red when she'd mentioned that he'd been turned into a blond goat, whom Batman had terrorised when the green archer had flippantly joked about his animal form (which obviously had been a bat). The team, especially Dick and Christine, had laughed at Oliver's great expense.

Batman was roused from his amused reminiscences as a beeping sound went off overhead. Everybody turned as a holographic screen came up in front with the text.

**_Emergency call: Mount Justice_ **

"Computer accept call. Authorisation Batman 02" Batman clipped.

They all gasped as Black Canary, or rather Dinah as she was in her civvies, a face flashed over the screen. By the diffused light in the room, they all guessed she was standing in the Cave's main hall.

She looked positively haggard. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was messed up so badly like she'd fallen asleep on it. She was still in her hero garb.

"Woah! Now that's what I call bed hair!" Flash's eyebrows rose high.

" _Shut up Barry_   _this is urgent_ " Dinah spared a nasty glare for the speedster before running a hand through her hair and sighing.

"What's the emergency?" Batman narrowed his eyes. She didn't look like she was in danger, but there was something about her tone that made him very worried.

The heroine bit her lip nervously as she saw the Dark Knight's jaw tighten and took a deep breath. " _It's Christine, Bruce._ "

"What's happened to her?"

Dinah gulped, obviously very nervous.

"Dinah," Batman growled his fear mounting. Superman glanced worriedly as he heard the man's heartbeat speed up instantly. He didn't need the mental link to hear the minuscule but very present twinge of fear in his voice.

" _I-I don't know how to say this Bruce…Zatara came by with his daughter Zatanna for a visit. They were supposed to be giving Zatanna a tour of Happy Harbour, but then the team gallivanted off on their own again to find Red Tornado._

"Did they find him or get any leads?" Superman answered because Batman looked like he was going to explode in a fury. Dinah scratched her head avoiding his eye.

 _"They did… but Christine she was-_ "

"Dinah!" a voice called on her end. There was a flash as a red-haired boy dashed to the older woman's side, dressed in yellow and red. Flash winced as he caught sight of his protégé. He too was looking just as fatigued as his colleague and a little battered like he'd been in a fight.

" _Dinah, Zatara's finally got the knife out! He's trying to stop the bleeding-_ "

" _Wally_!" she clamped a hand over the teenager's mouth in horror.

There was a loud clang.

Everyone turned to see the Batman's chair lying on the floor, its occupant long gone. They all stared at it in dumbstruck silence.

Finally, after five minutes Green Arrow looked at his watch. "Three." He muttered.

"Two." Green Lantern rolled his eyes sighed.

Flash quickly turned back to the screen and fixed his nephew with a panic-stricken look.

"Wally."

" _Yeah, Uncle Barry_?"

"You should probably run now."

"huh-what?" Wally narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he sleepily stumbled.

" _Hey, where's Dinah_?" He found his feet but looked around just as the yellow light and whirring hum of a zeta tube sounded behind him.

"One" Superman muttered as the dark cloaked figure materialised from the light.

The Leaguers all gulped as a pair of black-gloved hands entered the screen's boundaries and grabbed the young speedster by the scruff of his T-shirt.

"Wallace West! Where is Swift?!"

_It's official_

Superman shuddered as they saw Wally's body go limp as he fainted.

_No one messes around with Batman's little girl!_

* * *

"Batman" Kaldur gulped as Batman stormed into the common room his cape billowing behind him in his rage. In one arm he was deposited Wally's unconscious form on the floor.

"Where is she?" he growled.

Kaldur, Conner, Dick, Artemis and Zatanna all flinched at the tones and shrank away. All were still dressed in their hero gear, their faces haggard and scared. M'gann sat in a dark corner of the room, curled into a tight ball and not even looking up at the Bat. It was then that the Dark Knight noticed the large reddish-brown patches of dried blood splattered over the Martian's white and Red X top.

"M'gann found her on the ship first" Artemis explained from where she sat, arm draped consolingly around the green girl's side as she blubbered.

"There was…there was so much…"

"Where is she now?!" Batman turned to the others, the colour all but vanishing from the lower half of his face that wasn't covered by the dark cowl.

"She's…in the med bay…with Zatara" Robin's voice shook slightly as he tried to focus on anything but the terrifying glare that Batman set them all with.

"And  _why_  is she in the med bay?" he growled.

"Uhh…." The five teenagers all looked at each other nervously. They were royally screwed.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 11 2010, 07:17 EDT** _

Christine opened her eyes.

A bright light hovered dimly from somewhere above her in the white ceiling.

Everything was blurred. She wasn't in her uniform, and someone had removed her mask.

Wait she had removed her mask back in the Bio-Ship. The bioship…Ishan…her mother!

She wanted to get up at once, but even the thought of it made all her muscles ache.

_Did I make it back? Where am I? Is the team-_

She took a deep breath and felt a sharp pain from her abdomen.

That's right…she'd been stabbed…

Something black shifted in her peripheral vision. With painstaking effort, she turned her head. She saw the blurred outline of a doorway in which two people seemed to be standing talking. Both were dark though one had bright blonde head and was dressed in blue the other was tall dark, vast and mostly black.

The larger figure seemed to turn in her direction, cape swishing as it did so.

_Dad?_

She blinked, and the black mass of the Batman suddenly appeared at her bedside in two massive strides.

"Wait, Bruce-" Black Canary called.

Christine winced slightly as her dad's hands hurriedly patted her down as if checking her injuries for himself. After a minute or so he accidentally hit the spot where she'd been stabbed, and she cried out in pain.

Batman stopped at once, eyes narrowing at the spot he'd touched.

"Her stab wound is mostly gone thanks to Zatara's magic. But she'll need to spend a couple of days resting" Dinah explained calmly before turning to Christine and smiling gently. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been stabbed in the gut." Christine rolled her eyes, her voice hoarse and dry.

She could hear Batman's breathing quicken from beside her.

"I'll give you two a moment." Dinah smiled.

Christine watched as the older woman left the room before focusing her gaze back onto Batman.

"Dad…I…"

"What were you thinking?" he wasn't shouting, but his growl was so dark that he might as well have.

Christine's smile faltered.

"Dad, I'm sorry."

"For what? For breaking the rules or for putting yourself in mortal peril when you were already sick?! Do you have any idea what you've put me through? Do you?"

Christine turned her head away from him.

"Don't turn away from me!" he gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look back at him.

"Why not? Either way, you're still pissed off with me" She mumbled.

"How the hell do you expect me to react? You almost died! You did die…" the gravelly voice cracked, and now that he was close enough she saw his face. The white slits of the cowl were narrowed, but his thin lips were trembling ever so slightly.

He reached forwards and her vision was obscured by the black and grey of his uniform as he held her close. With great caution, she pulled her hands up and looped them around his neck. It was a little uncomfortable, but that was normal seeing as his suit was fitted with hard armour underneath the cloth.

She sniffed and instantly her nose was flooded with that familiar musky smell of his. Her eyes began to water again.

"I'm sorry dad."

* * *

The Team was next to see her.

At first, M'gann poked her head through to check the coast was clear. Then she spotted Batman sitting by Christine's bed. She gulped as the Dark Knight turned to face her, but his anger was now abated somewhat, and he nodded standing up. Christine squeezed his hand one last time before he strode out of the room.

Christine smiled fondly as one by one her teammates all filed into the room.

Wally was the first, zipping over superfast to hug her quickly and ruffle her hair.

"Seriously, only you could be beaten and stabbed to death and come back smiling" he rolled his eyes though Christine could see that they were shining with unshed tears.

"Damn straight" Artemis was next and like Wally, she too was trying to hold back tears. M'gann didn't even bother. She flew up to Christine bawling her eyes out and blubbering incoherent words that might've been her Martian mother tongue, but no one could really translate.

She only stopped when Conner put a hand on her shoulder. He looked down on Christine with a scowl, dark blue eyes a swirling mix of anger and fear and confusion.

"Hey"

"Hey" she rasped wincing as he swooped down and engulfed her in a tight bear hug.

She could feel his body trembling as he squeezed her tight, the comforting smell of sweat and pine filling her nose.

"Conner-"

"Whoever the hell did this to you…" he rumbled "I swear I will-"

"Shh! Conner, it's ok" Christine cooed as she stroked his hair soothingly. It was like hugging a child, albeit a very large overgrown child with the body of a man. She playfully pinched his nose as he carefully started to pull away.

"Ow!"

"That's payback for tickling me in training" She smirked. Despite himself, Conner allowed himself a small smile as he stood back to let Dick forwards.

"You are a lucky idiot, Chris you know that?" He hissed into her ear quietly, so that only she could hear.

"I know." She rolled her eyes as she reached up to ruffle his head. "Did you get Tornado back?"

"Oh yeah, he's back. And we stopped Morrow too. It was epic you should've seen it, Swift, it was-"

"Perhaps we should leave the stories for later. Once she's fully rested." Kaldur cut across the Boy Wonder gently as he stepped forward.

"Hey Kal" Christine smiled as she looked him over. He looked a wreck. His skin had taken on a pale, papery texture, and there were dark circles under his red eyes as he looked down on her.

"How are you feeling?" Kaldur murmured as he sat down on the edge of her bed. Behind him, M'gann and Wally quickly directed Artemis, Dick and Conner to turn around to give them more privacy, the two of them sharing knowing smirks.

"Okay, I guess…" Christine reached out to gently touch a webbed hand. "How are you?"

Kaldur stayed silent, seeming to think very hard as he looked down at her hand on his. Then he shook his head and sighed.

Christine stiffened in surprise as she felt his arms suddenly wrap around her and pull her close. His embrace was warm and secure, yet gentle at the same time as he buried his face in her shoulder. His skin was cool but pleasant, and he smelled distinctly of the sea. She could also feel his gills against her cheek, tickling her slightly as they opened and closed softly.

"Thank Neptune you're alright" he whispered into her ear. "When M'gann found you I thought-I'm so sorry we didn't find you sooner-"

"Don't be. You found me just in time, and that's all that matters." She sighed, smiling into the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around it to return the embrace. The rest of the team either gawked or beamed wide as they watched them both unabashedly from the sidelines, none of them noticing the glowering dark form of the Batman behind them in the doorway until he coughed loudly.

With a couple of squeaks and cries of alarm, the Dick, Artemis, Conner, M'gann and Wally all sheepishly jumped away from the bed where Kaldur and Christine had slowly started detaching themselves from one another.

They took their time, leaning their foreheads against one another's for a small moment before Kaldur gently pressed her back against the pillows and stood to his feet.

"Batman," he straightened his shoulders out as he turned to address the Dark Knight. "In light of this event, I am prepared to take full responsibility-"

"That will not be necessary Kaldur'ahm." Batman narrowed his eyes "There is only one person that is to be held accountable. Isn't that right Swift?" he turned his gaze on Christine, who rolled her eyes at him moodily.

"Yes, sir." She grunted.

"But Batman, it's not her fault -" Artemis began only to have Conner boom over the top of her.

"Yeah! Artemis is right! We need to find the bastard who did this and bring him in before-"

"Conner enough!" Christine cut across him, her frail voice surprisingly firm.

They all turned to face her as she gingerly sat up again.

"Listen. Batman's right. I was sick, and I should've stayed in the cave, but instead, I went along with you guys and almost could've jeopardized the entire mission, or worse." She winced, clutching at her stomach as she stretched it by accident. At once several hands gently ushered her to lay back down.

"So…how long will she be benched?" Dick looked up at his mentor from his spot by his partner's side.

"That remains to be seen." Batman grunted, "But she won't be returning to the mountain until the league deems her ready to resume hero work again."

"Translation, you're putting her under house arrest." Artemis folded her arms, glaring on her friend's behalf.

"It's not house arrest if it's voluntary" Christine muttered from where she lay.

"Wait? You want to get benched?" Wally stared at her in amazement. "Since when did  _you_  ever volunteer to get benched?"

"Since it could possibly save all of your lives" Christine raised her eyebrows at the speedster "Listen, whoever attacked me has obviously been tracking me for months. I'd be willing to bet both my legs that they were the ones responsible for the attack on the Hall of Justice as well as the funding for T.O. Morrow's projects. So, until the league can figure out who is behind these attacks it's probably for the best that I lay low and stay in the shadows for a little bit. Also, I really need to catch up on my homework, or else I'll really be in big trouble." She added with a small smirk.

Despite themselves, the others allowed themselves a small chuckle. Even Batman allowed himself to relax a fraction as he said:

"You'll be moved to the Batcave in the evening until then I suggest you get some rest. In fact, all of you could do with some rest." He added just as Wally tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "Now go. All of you. Hit the showers and go to bed. I need to talk with Swift alone"

They all nodded, though they were a tad reluctant to leave their friend's bedside.

Dick and Kaldur were the last to leave, the latter having to steer the former by the shoulder out of the room before closing the door behind them.

"You know who attacked you. Don't you?" Batman growled as he took a seat by her bedside.

"My mother. The charming woman that she is" Christine snorted reaching out to take her godfather's clenched fist. "It's too late to go after her, she wasn't there when it happened. She sent one of her pieces to do her dirty work as per usual to maintain her alibi."

"Do you know which one?"

"One of her Knights." Christine murmured shutting her eyes "Though I did not see his face."

She felt terrible for lying, but the truth just hurt too much to admit out loud. After all, it wasn't every day your childhood friend returned from beyond the grave to try to kill you.

She could see his face even now, staring down at her coldly through a haze of pain and blood.

_Ishan…what has she done to you?_

* * *

_**Gotham City, October 11 2010, 19:35 EDT** _

A woman with short blonde hair and blue hazel eyes, pulled her crimson silk dressing gown around her tightly as she stood out on the balcony of her penthouse at the top of Gotham City. Just below her lay the glowing grid of street lights and cars swirling around the cities tall, imposing buildings. Beyond this, the Gotham bay and harbour lay peaceful and dark, the occasional twinkling light of a small boat in the distance the only sign of life.

She didn't have eyes for the spectacular view. Instead, she smirked at one of the ugly ominous gargoyles that decorated the corners of her balcony. There a tall, dark shadow wearing a black cowl with a golden owl mask stood with folded arms.

"I always knew you'd come crawling back for me" she drawled as she took a suck of her cigarette.

"The day I crawl back for you will be the day I drag you down to hell" the man in the cowl snarled, tapping his gold gauntleted hand on the stone gargoyle's foot. "I'm surprised to see you so calm after T.O. Morrow failed"

"Who says he failed?" the woman snorted "Morrow was just a small fish in a big pond. I could easily find ten others just as capable as he. Besides, its thanks to him I had the opportunity to take out that little bitch once and for-agh!" She gasped as a golden clawed hand wrapped itself around her throat.

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you" The man snarled, the lenses of the owl cowl goggles flashing angrily in the dark "You're so lucky that your little Red Knight failed to kill her or else I would've enjoyed snapping your neck in two, even though I have express orders not to kill you yet."

The Red Queen clutched at the hand that held her, hazel eyes glaring savagely and her lips curling into a mad smirk.

"You always were such a goodie two shoes. Let me guess; your Old Man wants that little girl wonder for his flock?"

"A flock you were once a part of, or have you forgotten your roots." The man in the owl mask growled as he pulled her face close to his. "You were nothing but a guttersnipe, selling your body for scraps when my father found you on the streets. He took you in, raised you alongside me. We trained together, fought together. Then you turned on us. And for what?"

"Power my love." Red Queen reached up with a pale, slender hand to caress the owl mask "Power beyond your wildest dreams."

"You mean madness? And I am not your love, I never was." He hissed, and she chuckled.

"How ironic, considering you still love that girl even though she just as much mine as she is yours?"

"Christine may share your genetics, but she is not your daughter" he spat "She is strong, kind and has a loyal heart. She is everything you're not-"

"Careful love, one might think you've got a soft spot for the brat-ugh" she winced as the hand around her throat tightened again.

"On the contrary,  _love,_  you'll find I'm anything but  _soft_ " he growled, adjusting his grip so that he now squeezed her jaw painfully tight.

There was the soft tap of something on stone, and a voice suddenly coughed.

"Sir. Security on the building's been alerted; we must leave now."

"Ooh. And you were so close" Red Queen sneered in her captors face as he let her go. She grabbed onto the railing to stop herself sinking to the ground, clutching at her throat which had begun to bruise red.

Even as she looked up, both her visitor and his backup had both vanished into the night.

 _So…you're trying to recruit a new Talon, are you?_  She glared into the night sky.  _Too bad I have plans of my own for her._

"Let the games begin, Old Man"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is chapter 15, probably the most violent and bloody chapter in the series and just under 14000 words!
> 
> So yeah, Christine got attacked by her mother's henchmen in this version too, but the fight between her and the Red Knight was added (because she was such a Mary Sue damsel in distress in the old version). Anyways, as for the story I wanted to play with the idea of Swift starting to have her own rogues gallery, especially since I get to play around with the chess-themed supervillains (i'm having lots of fun designing their looks in photoshop). Hence Ishan being the Red Knight (Yeah I'm majorly revising his role in this version, but don't worry it gets way more interesting). I also enjoyed exploring a little bit of her bitch of a birth mother's past. She was so two dimensional and plain old nasty in the old version of this fic, and I always wanted to get the chance to play around with her character a lot more.
> 
> It was fun to finally introduce Zatanna, especially since I figured Swift would find her attractive. Speaking of attractions, I enjoyed writing Swift's and Kaldur's blossoming relationship. I think the team is finally coming to terms with them genuinely liking one another (except for M'gann and Wally who have shipped them since the start :P), but they still have a ways to go before they're a couple.
> 
> However, in all seriousness, I feel as if I should say this just to be on the safe side, I'm no doctor but I do know from first aid that if you get stabbed you should NOT remove whatever stabbed you if it's still stuck in whether it be a knife or whatever. It actually helps staunch the wound and stops you from going into shock from the blood loss. Whenever possible also gently lay on the ground and keep as much pressure as you can on the wound, but most importantly CALL THE EMERGENCY SERVICES ASAP!
> 
> Anywho, enough with my ramblings, review if you guys enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta.


	16. Failsafes & Fallacies

_**Happy Harbour, October 13 2010, 14:02 EDT** _

The day was bright and sunny as Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis, and Roy Harper of Star City sat in the corner booth of the seaside café, right by the window in their civilian clothes. Roy was in a red hooded sweater and a well-loved pair of worn blue jeans and sneakers. Opposite him, Kaldur wore black track pants and his dark navy high collared jacket to hide his gills which flared slightly as he glared at the view outside the window.

He'd just finished recounting about the traumatic mission at Yellowstone, and all the red archer gave him was a pair of raised eyebrows. Given how close he knew Swift and Roy were, Kaldur would've thought he would be more explosive with his temper.

Almost as if guessing his thoughts Roy put down his cup of coffee.

"Listen, don't get me wrong. I am mad about what happened, but I've already worked through it."

"You heard the story already" Kaldur sighed, and Roy nodded.

"Robin messaged me yesterday. He says she's doing better, but he's still shaken up."

"If you think he's bad you should've seen M'gann" Kaldur snorted into his glass of water. "It was she who first found Swift like…like that." He finished shaking his head to clear it of the horrible image.

He could still see the blood smeared all over the Bioship's helm as a small pale form draped limply over it.

"How are you holding up?" Roy asked quietly, eyeing his friend sympathetically as he looked the Atlantean up and down. He seemed alright, but his eyes had deep dark circles under them.

"Quite honestly, I'm don't know" Kaldur admitted leaning his elbows on the table "Being leader of the team means I have a responsibility to keep my teammates out of trouble. But how can I even call myself a leader if I can't even keep one of them safe in a situation we could've kept in control?"

"You can't" Roy snorted as he took a sip of coffee "The job is dangerous Kal. Trying to keep  _your_  team out of trouble is as impossible as trying to hunt down a unicorn, especially when the one in trouble is one of Batman's protégés. Seriously, that guy has more enemies than the sewers of Gotham have rats."

"Yet Red Queen isn't truly one of the Dark Knight's rogue's gallery, is she?" Kaldur's pale eyes narrowed.

Roy paused mid-sip.

"How much do you know?" he asked slowly, eyeing his friend cautiously.

"I know for a start that she is  _Christine_ 's actual birth-mother" Kaldur raised his eyebrows, and Roy sighed yet again.

"Wow, how long have you been sitting on that egg?"

"Since just before the incident at Cadmus. My King told me the names and identities of the original seven and their partners, on the condition that I never break his confidence."

"And yet you've still been letting the boy and girl wonder dance around you trying to keep their secret IDs?" Roy rolled his eyes with a smirk "Man; I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you tell them you've known who they were all this time. They'll flip their lids!"

"I hope not." Kaldur glanced out of the window "They're good friends. The last thing I'd want was for them to feel hurt that I didn't trust them with the truth."

"Correction, you didn't want Christine to feel hurt because you like her," Roy smirked and was not disappointed to see the Atlantean flush beet red as he choked on his drink.

"Ex-excuse me?"

"Oh come on." Roy chuckled "Anyone can see it from a mile off. You like her, what's the big problem?"

"You're seriously asking me that?" Kaldur quirked a brow as he did his best to compose himself, though he could not rid himself of the pink flush that had spread over his high cheekbones. "Her father is one of the two leaders of the Justice League-"

"And you're the apprentice of the King of the Seas." Roy countered, smirk widening. Wally was right; this was priceless.

"She's just a dear friend." Kaldur glared at the red-haired archer "Even if I did like her that way, I doubt she'd return my affections."

"HA!" Roy barked with laughter, causing a couple of other café goers to glance over disapprovingly at their table. "I'm sorry, but I call bullshit on the ' _just friends'_  thing."

"Roy" Kaldur growled softly under his breath, his blush now one of embarrassment but Roy just steamrolled over him shaking his head.

"Listen, I've known Christine for years, and I've seen her crushing on guys and girls long enough to know the signs that she really, truly likes someone."

"Oh yes? Pray tell." Kaldur rolled his eyes irritably.

"Okay," Roy leaned in over the table suddenly businesslike. "When you together do she play with her hair a lot?"

"Yes, but that doesn't prove-" Kaldur began but was interrupted once again.

"And does she let you touch her when you're close. Not in the gross touchy-feely way" Roy added quickly as Kaldur opened his mouth to retort "I mean, does she let you put a hand on her shoulder or return a hug when you give it?"

"What's that got to-"

"Does she?"

"Yes…I guess…"

"and finally, does she chew her knuckle when there's a pause, and she's trying to think of something to say?"

"…yes…." Kaldur stared at Roy, slightly disturbed. How well did he know the girl wonder?

"What? I'm observant, I notice things!" the archer drained the last of his coffee in one glug "the point is you said yes to all three. Chris is a very private person, when we first knew each other it took me a whole year before she was comfortable to give me a simple high-five. She's gotten better now, but if she's letting you hug her and playing with her hair after two months of knowing you, she must like you a lot. And you obviously must like her a lot because in the time I've known you I've never seen you look at someone the way you look when you're talking with her or about her."

Kaldur stayed silent as he digested the information. It was absurd and yet, it seemed to be the only thing that made sense. While he sometimes did let himself relax about the team, he still often had to be the mature voice of reason, mainly since he was the oldest member of the team. With the girl wonder, he didn't feel the need to put on that front. Plus, it didn't hurt that she was attractive, even if she was two years younger, or had white hair and yellow eyes or those willowy hands.

He sucked in a sharp breath as he remembered those slender fingers pressed against his chest and the way her breath tickled his gills when she had returned his embrace in that medical bed.

_Get a hold of yourself! But she's your teammate, your friend…Would you want to risk losing that friendship just because you like the way she looks?_

But it wasn't just about the way she looked, his mouth pursed in a small frown. The two of them just clicked in a way that he'd never thought possible. Not after Tula at any rate. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't thought much about his childhood sweetheart for the past few weeks. He assumed he'd been trying to distract himself from thinking of her by focusing on the team. He couldn't deny that even before Tula had broken his heart, he had already started to be drawn away by that pair of fiery yellow eyes.

Roy watched his friend battle with his emotions, his amusement giving way to grim thoughts as he traced the rim of his coffee cup.

It wasn't often Christine let new people into her circle. She'd suffered too many disappointments that had tried to worm their way into her confidence only to betray her, most of the time to her villainous mother.

That only begged the question, why was Red Queen suddenly active after two years of virtual silence? Did she feel threatened that her daughter suddenly had superpowers? Or was there something beyond the surface that everyone was missing?

Despite all these questions, there was one thing he did know.

_There must be something connecting Christine and Red Queen to Cadmus. All these mysterious things started unravelling the day they saved that Superboy from his pod. The answers must be there somehow. But not now. Right now I need to relax._

Roy coughed as he did his best to resume normalcy with his friend, who was only too happy to turn the mood around, neither of them noticing the shadow in the booth in front of them listening intently to their conversation, a shadow with amber eyes, dark hair and a thin scar slashed across his lips.

He sneered as he chanced a glance in the window's reflection at the dark-skinned Atlantean boy.

So…the boy thought he could waltz right into the girl wonder's life and she'd fall into his arms, did he? Directly after he, Ishan Shahzad had already marked her with his own blade?

_Do I have to stab her a hundred times to give them the message?_

His scarred lips curled into a sneer.

No one touched what was his. Not Batman, not Robin and certainly not this deluded fish boy from the depths of Davy Jones Locker.

But no, he was the Red Knight. His mistress had given him strict orders only to observe and report on the little girl's friends. He was not to be seen, nor remembered. He had to reign himself in, stay in control until the time came to strike.

And then he would take what he deserved.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor October 15 2010, 22:53 EDT** _

"Are you sure you're alright down there on your own?"

Christine sighed as she sat down at the Batcave computer, dressed in a dark purple dressing gown and a set of green and black green lantern themed pyjamas. She had finally managed to get her godfather to agree to let her man the coms down here and still he was calling her up every five minutes to check if she was alright.

"For the last time dad, I'm totally fine down here. This is the Batcave, no one besides us family can get down here remember? Besides who's gonna attack me, the bats?"

She laughed looking up at the ceiling which was infested by hundreds of the squeaking and scuttling flying rodents.

"Hmm," Batman grunted irritably on his end, clearly not pleased by her sass "Have you got the toxicology results from the samples we took from the victims skins?"

"They're on their way to you right now." Christine murmured as she quickly typed a few commands on the keyboard and sent the files across.

"You were right, Crane's using a new strain of fear toxin to gas his victims mixed in what appears to be something like a mutated form of mustard gas." She said as she pulled up the information on the screen.

"That explains the blistering and chemical burns we found on all three of the victim's bodies," Robin said on the other end of the link. "But why mustard gas?"

"Because in addition to being inhaled, the fear/mustard gas solution also can be absorbed through the skin." Batman explained grimly "It often takes hours before the victim starts experiencing the side effects."

"Yeah, that matches up with what I've got here." Christine quickly pulled up another series of reports, setting the computer to scan for matching phrases and patterns between the documents "According to the police and doctors reports, in addition to the growing chemical scars all three victims anxiety seemed to exponentially increase by the hour over a twenty-four hour period following first exposure."

"So, what, you're saying that Scarecrow has made a fear toxin that-"

"That builds up over time? Yeah pretty much" Christine shivered. It was bad enough that the Scarecrow (Dr Jonathan Crane), had invented a toxin that made you hallucinate your worst nightmares in your head. Now he had figured out a way to get under people's skins and torture them both body and mind!

She narrowed her eyes as she looked over the three victim's case files. All of them were male, all of them middle-aged War Veterans from the same army support group.

Finding out the Scarecrow's motives for targeting these men was easy enough for he never saw his victims as humans, merely experiments in his research into the power of fear. He chose his subjects carefully for his studies, and from what they had uncovered, it seemed he was very intrigued by the effects of PTSD on soldiers. It didn't help that he'd gone out of his way to lace their old military uniforms in the substance.

_Now that is a sick sense of poetic **injustice**._

She scowled as she ran a hand through her long white hair as she gave her mentor and partner a quick goodbye on the commlink system.

_Just when I thought these crazies couldn't get any worse, they pull a mutant rabbit from a new disgusting hat._

She sighed as she checked around the Batcave. Alfred was down on one of the lower levels cleaning the Batwing both inside and out so for now she was utterly alone, for the first time in days.

_Time to get a boost._

Pursing her lips, Christine pulled out a long USB cord and quickly connected both the bat-computer and the holo-computer engraved into the black and purple Swift suit glove, that she wore on her left arm.

"Just a little and there." She murmured as she remote accessed the JL database on her glove.

_Now let's see what mother-dearest has been up to_

She grits her teeth as she pulled up a detailed profile on a woman dressed in red.

**Red Queen**

**Real Name:**  Scarlett Allison Tailors (formally Hallows)

 **Age:**  35

 **DOB:**  February 13, 1975

 **Race/Species:**  Human (Caucasian)

 **Gender:**  Female

 **Hair colour:**  Blonde

 **Eye Colour:**  Blue/Hazel

**Relatives:**

· Mother - Lucile Giles-Tailors (Deceased)

· Father – Sean Tailors (Deceased)

· Legal Guardian - Stanley Stuart Hallows Senior (deceased)

· Ex-husband- Stanley Stuart Hallows Junior (Deceased)

· Daughter – Christine Evelyn Hallows

"Daughter, pff!" Christine snorted to herself as she pulled up her own personal file and put it alongside her mothers.

Both were similarly curvy in body shape, though proportionately Christine's arms and legs were longer, and they both had the same pale complexion, but otherwise, they were about as different as night and day.

Sometimes the girl wonder was amazed that she'd even come from the woman at all they were so different.

_Hmm…let's see…_

Christine frowned as bored; she clicked on her date of birth. Typically it should've come up with information about the details about her birth, like the place and time and other such data.

Yet all she got was the standard Birth Certificate from Gotham City Hall, and a news article announcing her surprise birth after her mother had spent months out of the public eye.

_But at which hospital was I born at? Or was it a home birth?_

She frowned as she looked through both hers and her mother's files, opening a database search of all the Gotham hospitals. But try as hard as she looked through birth records on her birthday, there was no record of her mother or her being present at any hospital.

_That's odd…there isn't even a record for a home birth. No midwives paid for or nurses. Nothing._

And that wasn't the worst of it. She delved back further into 1996, searching for fertility clinics, gynaecologists, obstetricians or any other specialists that might have had a hand in her mother's pregnancy. There were no records of any such meetings ever happening. There was one record of her mother visiting a GP for a seasonal flu shot but other than that there was nothing.

She leaned back in the large black chair chewing her index knuckle thoughtfully as she stared at the screen.

From what she was looking at, it almost appeared as if she'd just sprung up from thin air on the day of her birth.

_But that can't be possible; I must've come from somewhere unless I was made in a lab like Conner-._

She laughed at herself, only to freeze as a sudden horrible thought clenched around her heart tight like an icy hand.

A man in a white suit with a black hooded cape and an owl mask standing in front of her as she floated in a glass pod filled with water.

_But no…that can't be possible…_

"Miss Christine, is something the matter?" an old British voice asked behind her.

"What?" she turned around to see Alfred standing behind her, wiping his wet hands with a dry towel. "Oh, no it's okay Alfie. I was wrapping up."

She quickly shut down her holo-computer in front of her and tried her best to smile.

She could tell Alfred was not fooled for an instant as he met her gaze. He knew exactly what she had seen and understood the question she was burning to ask. She did not resent him for not commenting about it as he made to fuss over her to go upstairs to bed.

Alfred only kept his mouth shut out of loyalty to Bruce, and she'd never fault him for that, especially after all the old butler had done for her in her childhood. The Englishman had put so much love and effort into co-raising the members of the house he ran, not to mention he was a terrifying force to reckon with when pissed. In all honesty, if Christine were to pick between facing Batman's temper and Alfred's, she'd take the Dark Knight on any day, though that didn't stop her from feeling angry even as she stalked into her room.

"Have a good night young miss," Alfred said gently as he shut the door quietly behind her.

She sat down on the bed, sighing heavily as she examined her long nails.

_There's no way that's possible. How on earth could I have been created in a lab? I've got photographs of my papa and me when I was a baby…_

_But none of when your mother was pregnant with you._

A voice whispered slyly in her head as she reached in her bedside table drawer. She was quick to pick up her papa's photo album, flicking through all the baby photos until she reached once again the picture of her first communion.

She eyed the white mask in the background and took out the silver owl pendant from beneath her pyjamas, her mind wandering back to the strange white mask she'd found in the evidence locker last month.

She scowled as she quickly checked under her giant king-sized bed and pulled out something broad and flat from beneath it.

She coughed a little as some dust was unsettled beneath the mattress. Using her super breath, she quickly it off her bounty. It was a large corkboard covered all over with old post-it notes, photographs, newspaper articles and a huge net of multi-coloured threads of yarn held in place by pins.

It had been two years since Bruce had told her to put it away, and even now as she examined her research, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat as she traced over the photograph in the centre of the board.

A photograph of a handsome man with brown hair and warm dark brown eyes.

"Sorry Bruce" she murmured as she traced the top of his head sadly "But it looks like I've gotta break my promise after all."

And with that, she tore the photo off, along with the several strings of yarn attached to it, before tearing the rest of the board's contents off roughly.

She had a mystery to solve.

"Back to the drawing board, I go."

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, October 16 2010, 10:36 EDT** _

Alfred was polishing the railings of the grand staircase when the doorbell rang.

"Hmm, another visitor" he mused setting down the cleaning cloth with the other implements by his side. He straightened his tie and sleeves and walked over to open the large doors.

Roy Harper and Oliver Queen were both standing on the doorstep looking very uncomfortable and both holding a bouquet of flowers each, one complete with yellow dandelions and the other a small but pretty mix of violets, purple irises and lavenders.

"Welcome gentlemen. Master Bruce has been expecting you."

"Hello, Alfred" Both Roy and Ollie grinned in relief at the sight of the old butler who held the door open to let them through.

Oliver was wearing dark pants, with a black shirt and dark green jacket, which Alfred took from him quickly before turning to take Roy's black leather jacket. Roy was just in jeans, a dark red T-shirt and sneakers.

"How's Christine" he muttered switching the violet bouquet in his hands as he settled his shirt.

"Miss Christine is quite well Mister Harper. In fact, she is playing video games with young master Dick in the lounge. However, if you would please follow me up to the study, Master Bruce would like to see you and Mister Queen before you go and greet your friends."

"How is the little miss anyways?" Oliver smirked as he heard a television in the distance.

Alfred gave a small, sad smile "As per Master Bruce's instructions, Miss Christine is now prohibited from doing anything considered too strenuous or stressful until she is fully healed. But that shouldn't be too long if her smile is anything to go by."

"I don't doubt it" Ollie muttered. Alfred smirked as they made to climb the stairs.

"Yeah, the last time she got injured badly she recovered in a week and beat the cra-" He gulped as Alfred gave him a very pointed look " _crack_  out of some of Penguins minions."

The moments passed in comfortable silence as the three made their way down several more corridors until they reached a large richly polished wooden door.

Alfred knocked three times.

"Who is it?" A deep, gruff voice called from within.

"It is I, Alfred, Master Bruce. And I've brought up Mister Queen and young mister Harper just as you've instructed."

"Alright, Alfred show them in."

Alfred opened the door and held it open for the two men who stepped inside.

The study was a large room with full wooden bookshelves covering all the walls, with a couple of rolling ladders attached securely on either end. In the centre of the study, on top of the thick red carpet, an ornate wooden desk matching the bookcases stood with a black chair behind it. In the chair sat Bruce Wayne in a dark grey dress shirt, with the sleeves, rolled up to his elbows, black dress pants, hair slicked back neatly as he brooded over what seemed to be a small old journal.

He looked up as Oliver and Roy stepped inside and quickly set the book back in a drawer.

"Hello Oliver, Roy"

"Hey, Bruce!" Oliver nodded his head.

"Hey…"

Roy squinted as he caught sight of a framed photograph sitting on the desk. He could see Bruce, who was probably a teenager as he looked slightly younger and less bulky then now, standing with another young man with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Though both were wearing the same white martial arts gi, you could tell that the other man was of a much leaner build than Bruce. He was much more handsome too, and that was saying something as Bruce Wayne was supposed to be one of the most sought-after bachelors in the world. He had short, dark brown hair, bright, intelligent, warm brown eyes and there was something about his smile that made even Roy feel at ease. Just like the girl wonder always did when she smiled.

Now that he thought about it, the man and Christine did look remarkably similar.

"Is that… Christine's dad?" He pointed to the man in the picture.

Oliver glanced at Bruce who had tensed up at once.

"Why do you ask?"

"Nothing" Roy jumped away from the photograph. "It's just…I've never seen him before and, well, she looks just like him."

He gulped as Bruce fixed him with a piercing stare for a few moments before sitting back down.

"Yes, they do look a lot alike, but I didn't call you both here to look at old photographs. Have a seat." He gestured to the two chairs opposite him, and the two archers sat down nervously. Somewhere at the doorway, Alfred gave a pointed cough.

Bruce rolled his eyes, looking more like an irritated child being nagged by his parents than a terrifying man.

"Would either of you like anything to drink?"

"I'll just have water," Oliver smirked.

"A soda, please" he added quickly to Alfred who nodded.

"Very good sirs I shall be right back."

"Thanks, Alfred!" both archers called before Oliver turned quickly to Roy eyebrows raised.

"Seriously Roy? A soda in the middle of the day?"

"Shut up Ollie! I'm not a kid anymore!" Roy snapped folding his arms grouchily.

"Could've fooled me" Oliver muttered under his breath.

Bruce cleared his throat loudly as Roy opened his mouth to retort. He shrank back into his seat moodily.

"Now that's over and done with" he sighed before leaning forwards onto the desk "Dick and the team are going to be going into a virtual Failsafe simulation today."

"A Failsafe simulation?" Roy quirked an eyebrow.

Now it was Oliver's turn to tense up. He and the League had been through enough of those failsafe simulations to last them a lifetime, and he never wished to do another ever again.

"Bruce are you sure you want to do this? They've barely been a team for three months" Oliver narrowed his eyes, but the other man nodded.

"I know. But given the events concerning the Injustice League and last week-" he paused, and Roy saw the hands clench into fists "-they need the preparation, they need to know how to handle themselves should something on that scale, or bigger happens again. They can't keep relying on us to save them."

"So basically, you're going to put them through all that hell, AGAIN?" Roy burst out angrily.

"I thought you didn't care about what happens to the team" Bruce glared at the boy who glared back defiantly.

"Just because I don't want to join them doesn't mean I don't stop caring about my friends! And what about Christine?"

"What about her?"

"You know she won't ever agree to go through with this plan!"

"No, she won't know, which is why she is never to know it's going to happen" Bruce's growl turned more aggressive, almost territorial. "Up till next week, Christine is on leave from all patrols and team missions until we are sure her injuries are fully healed."

"I thought Alfred said she was recovering fast?" Oliver scratched his beard.

"She is physically…but emotionally…" Bruce sighed heavily "She's not even opened up once. Not to me, Alfred or even Dick. I think Dinah might've tried a couple of days ago because Christine gets all crabby whenever anyone mentions her name."

Bruce shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He'd always known that Christine was less comfortable around older women, even her school teachers and other female Leaguers. With Leslie, she was a little more comfortable, but still, she was always distant.

"I don't know what's scarier." Roy muttered, "Christine when she's pissed off or Dinah when she's in her psychiatrist mode."

"Who's scarier?"

They all turned around just as Alfred came through the door carrying the drinks for Oliver and Roy. Behind him was Dinah and Clark who both entered the room looking grim.

"Hey Bruce, Oliver, Roy."

Everyone nodded as Alfred set the drinks on the table and pulled up two extra chairs from the side for Dinah and Clark.

"Thank you, Alfred," Dinah smiled at the old man who bobbed his head in return as he slid the chair under her as she sat down. Clark chose to remain to stand and leaned against a bookshelf.

"How is Christine?" Bruce asked his butler pointedly.

"The young mistress is currently settled on the couch with Master Dick, watching the first instalment of the Lord of the Rings." Alfred rolled his eyes.

Bruce seemed to share his irritation and sighed.

"Don't they ever get bored of those movies?"

He liked movies just as much as the rest of them, however, he always thought there was a limit to how many times one can watch the same set of movies all over again.

"Probably not" Roy smirked as he spotted a set of said books on a shelf to his left.

"Of course, you would say that" Oliver muttered, "you're the one who started it for them."

"Well, they are good movies. And the books are even better" Clark shrugged.

"Back to the matter at hand." Bruce coughed irritably before turning to the redhead boy in front of him. "As we were saying before, Christine is still on the mend and will not be taking part in the Failsafe simulation."

"But Dick is?" Clark asked. Bruce nodded.

"Yes, but Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado and I will be watching over them to try and keep a handle on the situation. Roy, I need you to keep watch over Christine while I'm away.

"So, in short, you took me off duty to babysit?" Roy scowled. "Why not ask Alfred to keep an eye on her? I could help you guys catch the guy responsible! And knock his lights out" he added mumbling.

"I may be able to stay twenty-four seven at the manor Mister Harper" Alfred clipped. "But Master Bruce may need me to do other things for him in the cave. When that happens, I may not be able to watch over her and if she's left alone…I shudder to think about what might happen."

And indeed, the old man did shudder. Roy still looked very confused.

"Alfred's right Roy" Clark explained calmly "Last week we thought that keeping her alone on com duty in the bioship was safe, but it wasn't."

"Also, you aren't Justice League" Oliver added much to the younger man's chagrin "the enemy will not expect you to be there which gives you the element of surprise should anyone come knocking."

"Of course, if it weren't so dangerous I would've called her best friend Freddy to stay with her. But circumstances being as dangerous as they are," Bruce paused as the memory of her resting in a medical bed pale as death floated across his mind.

"Also, Christine trusts you more than us. It'll be easier for her to stay put if you're with her and keeping her busy." He flexed his hands to relieve himself of the stress.

Roy glowered at all of them for a good long minute before huffing in exasperation and standing up.

"Fine, I'll watch her. But you better make sure you catch that creep or else I'll hunt him down myself."

"Here take these for me, while you're at it. We'll probably be stuck up here for a long time" Oliver quickly handed him the bouquet in his hands.

Roy nodded tersely and made to follow Alfred out of the room.

As soon as the door was shut, Clark sat down in Roy's vacated chair sighing.

"Any luck?" Bruce asked.

"Nope. Nothing whatsoever to report on Red Queen's movements." Clark groaned.

"And I talked to Tornado" Dinah folded her arms, "He says that while Morrow was in contact with Red Queen, he was paid through an untraceable line so while we know it's true, there isn't any empirical proof will hold up against her. Also, there is the deal with the Red Knight she sent to attack Christine, so unless your girl decides to open up, we're sitting ducks."

"So, you did try to talk to her?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Yes…but it didn't go so well..." Dinah looked down at the floor worriedly

"What happened?" Oliver grasped her hand comfortingly.

"Nothing much. But it wasn't pleasant. I kept asking her questions, but she just sat in her chair and glared at me. She did this for about half an hour before I asked her about whether there were people in her past that would hold anything against her, like her mother, and she stood up without a word and left the room."

"Well, that was to be expected. Christine hates that bitch" Oliver muttered.

"Who doesn't?" Clark snorted, and Bruce nodded in agreement.

"But it's quite sad really." Dinah sighed "Her mother's neglect has hurt her so badly that she's built a defensive barrier around herself to protect her from connecting emotionally to whoever she sees as potential maternal figures. Also, to keep the barrier in place Christine herself acts motherly, so others perceive her to be stronger than she looks and so others do not worry so much about her."

"Which would explain why it took so long for the team to realize something was wrong." Bruce nodded in understanding. He had been wondering why the team had been so slow on the uptake that night, but now that Dinah had pointed it out to him it made sense. And now that he thought about it, every time he saw Christine with her teammates, she was usually the one keeping everyone in check.

He raised his head and forced himself out of his musings as Dinah began speaking again.

"Though her physical strength needs improvement, Christine is a master of stealth, probably the best on the team and would be second best to Batman if she were in the league. Dick's the third best in stealth but is better in handling software and technology. He could be equal to Christine. However, his ego often gets in the way".

Dinah looked carefully at Bruce who nodded in understanding. When it came down to analysing people's fighting stats no one could argue with Black Canary.

"What if she was distracted" Oliver added quickly, but Dinah shook her head.

"No even then she's still cautious. You should see her when I give the Team exercises." She smirked, "She can be yelling at Wally and Artemis for bickering and still take down a training bot sneaking up on her while at the same time helping Kaldur co-ordinate the team's movements."

Bruce smirked with pride.

"Whoever attacked Christine is very dangerous, to have been able to take her by surprise, even if she was sick." Clark shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

"An enemy worthy of the League" Bruce nodded his pride giving way to worry. "Before we knew it was a Red Knight, I thought it was one of Lex Luthor's cronies Red Queen was borrowing. She's not above using her boyfriend's tools for her gain."

"You're right. And Luthor wouldn't miss out on a chance to take a stab at one of us-Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean it like that." Oliver spluttered apologetically as Bruce glowered angrily at him and Dinah and Clark both shook their heads.

"The injuries that she received plus the stab wound suggests that this particular Red Knight took the attack very personally. Most of Red Queen's assassins try to keep their attacks clean and accurate, but the wound he inflicted was deliberately sadistic," Bruce's tone was stern and decisive like his alter ego.

"Maybe it was an assassin from the League of Shadows on loan from Ra's Al Ghul. He did try to kill her back at Canaveral when you foiled his rocket plan. Maybe he wanted to use Red Queen to get back at you?" Clark narrowed his eyes grimly.

"I've considered that possibility too…" Bruce stared hard at the wood on the desk as if his gaze would burn a hole right through it. "It's logical and would make more sense, but something tells me that it wasn't. For one if Ra's did want to strike me he would've also tried to target Dick or one of my other close allies, or even Gotham itself. Also, you forget that attack at the Hall of Justice. All of the original seven were there in the open, and Clark you were there on the podium for five minutes, so if someone wanted to put a kryptonite bullet through you, they would've. But they waited for Christine to step up and finish speaking. They wanted to take her down at her highest point. And they wanted to do it themselves. Ra's despises my protégé's but not enough only to target one of them so personally. No. Red Queen pulled this one off for her gain."

"Using a sadistic henchman with a grudge? That should narrow our list down a lot." Oliver exclaimed dramatically.

"We do seem to come across a lot of those don't we?" Clark smirked.

"Yeah but this time someone has a personal grudge against Swift," Bruce said through clenched teeth.

"Y'know that being said" Oliver leant back in his chair "Given what's happened, you should be proud of her."

"I am proud of her" Bruce growled grumpily but Oliver shook his head

"No, no I mean…the fact that Red Queen is now targeting her personally also means that our enemies are just as afraid of her as they are of us."

"And that's a good thing how?" Clark raised his eyebrows

"Well, it's good because it shows us that, give or take a few years, she could be a valuable asset to the League. Maybe even a member-"

"The League doesn't accept anyone under the age of eighteen Oliver" Bruce growled,"and I will most certainly not be letting Christine join until she is old enough."

"And when will that be? When she's eighty?" Oliver snorted. "Y'know Bruce you really are way too possessive about your stuff. Sometimes I wonder who out of the Triumphant Trio really are the children."

"What did you say, Queen?" Bruce reached over the chair about to grab his friend by the collar, but Clark put out both his hands to hold both away from each other.

"She may be fourteen" Clark pushed Bruce back into his chair "And maybe it seems early, but her time to shine on her own has come at last…who are we to deny her that?"

"Clark's right Bruce…" Dinah grunted as she forced her affronted boyfriend back into his own seat too "She's not going to be your little girl forever. Christine has a free spirit, if you keep her locked away like this, she will snap. And -don't give me that look!" she barked as she saw him open his mouth to speak "You knew this from the start. You told us yourself after she made her first debut four years ago. We asked you what your plans for the future of the league were and you showed us Dick and  _her._ "

Bruce stared at Dinah for a good long moment. He couldn't deny it. She was right. He had told them all that. He sank back into his chair, brooding darkly. Clark and Dinah both sighed in relief and sat back down in their own chairs.

Oliver bristled in his spot as he straightened his slightly crinkled shirt.

"Now that's cleared up perhaps we can get back to discussing the attack."

"We need to get Christine to tell us the identity of the Knight attacked her" Dinah sighed "It's the only chance we have of finally getting the dirt we need on her mother."

"Of course we do." Bruce narrowed his eyes "Why do you think I invited Roy?"

* * *

"Here we go, bowl number two is a go!" Dick grinned as he returned to his seat next to his partner who quickly draped herself over him in a scramble to get the new food.

"Happy now?" he rolled his eyes as she snatched the popcorn from the bowl and shovelled it into her mouth, spilling some onto his legs.

"Yeah. It's been a while since we last did this together. But seriously" she gestured to the screen as a black-robed figure on a horse made to snatch at a white horse on which an elvish lady (Arwen) was riding, with a sickly hobbit (Frodo) in front of her.

"Even I didn't look like  **that**  when I was sick."

"Yeah, ow hey! Leave some for me!" Dick chuckled as he fought to keep the bowl of popcorn safe from his partner's prying hands.

"Don't be so stingy, I'm still hungry" Christine scowled grumpily only to cry out as she began teetering over the edge.

"AH Dick help" she cried out quickly.

The bowl of popcorn went flying as Dick grabbed her quickly with both arms pulling her back up, but too far.

Thwump!

"I said help me up not feel me up" Christine squeaked.

"I know. I'm sorry" He shut his eyes. He'd grabbed her to pull her up to sit, but instead of grabbing her waist he'd grabbed both her boobs. In his mortification, he accidentally gave them a squeeze. His eyes flew open.

"Wow! They really are larger than they look. And soft" He said in amazement, sounding like a scientist would upon the discovery of a fascinating new animal species.

"Argh! Trust you to say that" Christine groaned hiding her red face in her hands.

There was a creak and they both looked up just as Roy poked his head through the door.

"Shit" Dick muttered as the older boys face turned redder than his hair.

There they were, looking ruffled and red-faced with Dick's hands squeezing Christine's boobs from behind as she sat on his lap, popcorn spilt everywhere on the couch.

"R-R-Roy?" Christine stammered, feeling mortification practically eat her alive "H-Hi…uh…I can totally explain this-"

But it was too late. Roy was already doubled over with laughter, clutching onto the door handle to stop himself from dropping to the ground.

"Oh-oh God! HA! I should've brought my camera! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA~!"

"He's never going to let us live this down, is he?" Dick sighed and Christine scowled.

"No, he won't. Now would you please let go of my boobs!"

* * *

_**Batcave, October 16 2010, 15:15 EDT** _

"Are you sure we won't get in trouble for this?" Roy glanced around the large cave nervously.

Christine rolled her eyes as her fingers deftly passed over the keys of the Bat Computer.

"Alfred is upstairs baking and will probably continue doing so for the next hour, trust me we won't get in trouble. And besides, I've been hacking these babies since I was nine. Now here we are…Cheshire."

She hit the enter button and the images of the masked assassin appeared over the multiple screen display.

"Go ahead knock yourself out" Christine sank back in her chair and connected her own holographic computer to the Batcomputer.

"Thanks" Roy smirked as he made to peruse the database file. Unfortunately, there wasn't so much he already didn't know. Batman appeared to have the same data as he did, save a little bit more information about her training with the League of Shadows.

With a heavy sigh, he looked quickly at Christine who had turned her back on him to look up a file with the picture of a young boy with dark hair and bright amber eyes. For some reason, he looked familiar…

"Who's Ishan?" He frowned as he looked the file name over.

**Ishan Shahzad (Deceased)**

"An old friend from when my pa-…my father was still around…" She trailed off trying to look at anywhere rather than Roy. Yet as she quickly shut the screen the red-haired archer saw the remorseful look in her eye.

"oh really?" he asked as he looked at the date of death, the 7th of January 2008. His fists clenched as he looked the boy's face over. Of course, how could he have forgotten those eyes, or that scar over his lips…

"He was the little shit that helped your mom kidnap you two years ago. The one who murdered his own-"

"Roy-" Christine gulped as Roy narrowed his eyes upon her.

"-He's the one who attacked you at Yellowstone isn't he?"

"Roy, the file says he's dead-" Christine rolled her eyes, but Roy saw straight through her. For all her pluck and skills, the girl wonder had never been a good liar, hence the reason she wore a mask that covered her entire face when she was fighting crime.

She certainly was failing to hide her guilt as he spat:

"Yeah, but knowing your mother, it could've just as easily been faked-"

"Oh come on you were there when it happened." Christine countered angrily "We saw the warehouse blow up when you and the others rescued me that day-"

"Yeah from the outside!" Roy growled, hands flying in his annoyance "We had no idea what happened to him on the inside. He might've escaped-"

"Maybe but-" Christine pinched the bridge of her nose in aggravation as he growled.

"But what Christine? What? You think there's still good in him? Do you honestly still believe that the asshole that killed his own parents and betrayed you to your mother could possibly still be your friend? Is that it?"

Christine didn't answer, her gaze dropping to the floor, wet and hot as she chewed her lip.

"No. No-no-no-no-no-no-no." Roy ran a hand through his hair "Please don't tell me you  _liked_  him?"

His heart sank as she stayed silent, eyes still fixed on the floor.

"Oh god…" he sighed shaking his head.

"You don't understand" she murmured hoarsely as she wiped the corners of her eyes. "He was my best friend. He might have betrayed me in the end but there were so many things we had that were true that we did share. I can't just throw that away-"

"I get that." Roy looked at her sympathetically "But that doesn't excuse what he's done. You need to tell Bruce about this."

"No!" Christine cried out "I-I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because-because Ishan is-we were-" She gulped down a huge breath to steady herself "What happened to Ishan is  _my_  responsibility. I need to handle this on my own."

"Argh! No, you don't!" Roy groaned pinching the bridge of his nose "Chris we all want to help you-"

"I know but I can handle it-"

"Handle it? The guy almost killed you!"

"But he-"

"What is going on?" They looked up the stairs to see Alfred standing, with a large tray laden with tea, coffee and an assortment of fresh biscuits hot out of the oven.

"Nothing Alfred" Christine quickly called. Alfred quirked an eyebrow as he carefully stepped down the stairs.

While he was distracted setting the snacks up for them, Christine glared at Roy who glared back mulishly. He was not going to let her get away with this.

As soon as Alfred left them, to go tend to his precious plants in the greenhouse, Roy murmured softly in her ear.

"Listen. Either you tell Bruce about this today, or I will."

He turned back to face the Batcomputer, choosing to ignore the sneer the girl wonder shot at him as she snarled:

"Fine"

It wasn't like she had much of a choice, she thought mulishly as she copied the last of Cheshire's files onto a memory stick for the archer.

After a good ten minutes of waiting for the file to load she handed it over to Roy and sighed.

"Here, hope this all helps."

"Thanks" Roy muttered taking the memory stick and patting her on the shoulder. "I know it's tough ratting out an old friend, but it's the right thing."

"That's what everyone keeps saying" Christine turned back to the bat-computer, eyes hard as she began accessing the Batman's case files.

"What are you looking at?" Roy pouted as he leaned over her shoulder to watch.

She had brought up a file created nearly two months ago. In it were many files, yet all were greyed out as classified documents. All save one, the image file of a pure white and simple owl face mask titled "Article B-2 Case No 310896."

"Well that's not creepy at all" Roy snorted and Christine smirked.

"You should see it up close in the evidence locker" she tried accessing the other files.

_Access denied. Access denied. Access Denied._

"Not for long" Christine muttered as she pulled out the cord from her holo-computer glove.

"Whoa-whoa! Wait, what are you doing?" Roy frowned anxiously at her as her fingers moved fast over her glove.

"Uh, hacking duh!" Christine rolled her eyes "Come on. Come on. Gotcha!"

_Access Granted._

"You scare me sometimes, you know that?" Roy smirked amusedly at her as she started looking through the files, her eyes widening in shock.

"This is…these are Cadmus files from the Washington Lab Superboy was made at…" she breathed as she started cycling through the research "but what is it all doing…"

Her voice trailed off as she saw a file thumbnail with the title  **"Research_SwiftB02."**

"Chris" Roy murmured warningly, his gut sinking lower than ever before as he reached out to stop her hand clicking on the file. He had no idea what the hell that file was, but he knew for certain it contained nothing good. Yet he was still too slow and as his hand grabbed hers, a profile loaded onto the screen.

**Swift**

**Real Name:**  Christine Evelyn Hallows

 **Age:**  14

 **DOB:**  31st October 1996

 **Species:**  Genomorph Hybrid (Human/various owl and bat species)

"Holy crap."

Christine paid no attention to her friend as she leapt to her feet, the cookies and milk Alfred had provided smashing to the floor with a loud clatter.

It was as if she were in an underwater tunnel with all sounds garbled and faint even as the sound hit her. Nothing could quite reach her over the pounding of her heart echoing through her skull.

She could smell blood as her fists clenched so tightly that her sharp nails cut into the skin of her palm. She could see the beads sweat on Roy's skin as his hand grabbed onto hers in what he thought was a comforting motion.

She quickly looked up to avoid looking at the red-haired archer only for her eyes to come close to a piece of text on the screen at the bottom of the profile.

" **Emergency Contingency Plan"**

_Emergency Contingency plan…EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN!_

"Chris-" Roy broke off as a claw-like hand threw him off, literally pushing him back to the ground.

Christine, however, didn't care.

"That sneaky son of a…" She growled under her breath before jumping to her feet, all but flying down the Batcave stairs in her anger.

"Chris-Hold it, Christine! WAIT! Where are you going?!" the red-haired archer called out as he scrambled desperately to his feet to follow her.

"To give a bat a piece of my mind!" She roared angrily, causing a lot of the bats hanging from the ceiling to squeak in alarm as she disappeared in a flash of yellow light through a Zeta Tube.

"Oh…Shit…" Roy groaned "Bruce is going to kill me"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 16 2010, 16: 21 EDT** _

Dick's eyes flew open. At first, he thought he was still stuck back on the alien ship, it was so dark. But then he felt the hard bench beneath him and saw the outline of the cave ceiling through the dark shades of his glasses.

But they were supposed to be ...

He wiped a hand across his brow panting and paused to look at it. It was wet with sweat.

"You're all alive!" he heard M'gann cry out.

_We are?_

Robin looked around the room. Sure enough, he could see M'gann sitting up, looking at them all in relief. Conner was petting wolf in a daze, Kaldur was struggling to sit up as was Artemis and Wally, who had to be helped by Red Tornado and Captain Marvel respectively. Dick felt his stomach sink as he looked around for his partner who was nowhere to be seen.

_No! Please, No!_

Robin breathed heavily. He slid off the platform he'd been lying on just as a computerised voice announced.

**_Recognised Swift B02_ **

Dick's heart leapt in his chest as Christine strode out of the Zeta Tube. Her face was seething and her skirt billowed as she stormed into the room. She looked just about ready to thrash the living daylights out of Batman, only to stop short as she chanced a glance away and saw her teammates.

Eventually, her gaze fell upon Dick. She ran and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Are you alright? What happened?" She began patting him down with her hands as if checking for injuries. Dick's breath hitched as her hands touched his face stroking his bangs away from his sweaty forehead.

There was a rustling and they both turned to see Batman holding a fatigued Martian Manhunter up by the shoulders.

"What happened in there?"

"The exercise…it all went wrong" Manhunter grabbed his head in pain.

"Exercise?" Dick breathed not taking his eyes of Christine who turned to Batman eyes blazing with fury.

"What did you do?" she growled, holding her partner protectively close to her.

"Try to remember" Batman narrowed his eyes.

"What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the six of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this before going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

Batman clenched his fist as Christine's glare on him became if possible even stonier than before. Manhunter sensed the tension like one would sense an icy chill and cut in quickly before either bat could open their mouths.

"That is why you hardly grieved, even when Wolf was disintegrated before your very eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died."

Artemis gritted her teeth and looked down at the floor as the Martian continued speaking.

"Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise. And her subconscious took control. Making all of you forget too"

Christine looked up to see M'gann's shocked face.

"I-I'm so sorry."

"This isn't her fault! Why didn't you stop the exercise?" Conner yelled angrily.

"We tried…" Manhunter said calmly "But M'gann had …a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should've awakened after her death, was so convinced she had passed, she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to arrest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. At first, I thought if I could distract your emotions long enough I could grab hold of the simulation once again. To achieve this, I recreated a fake Swift."

"But…How could you do that? I wasn't even here" Christine gasped.

"It was fairly simple, I used my basic knowledge to create a physical shell in which all of you would subconsciously pour all your emotional ties and shared memories, which would then loosen the emotional grip. Unfortunately, the input transferred into the replica was so strong that it almost solidified M'gann's control. You were all so convinced she was real that all your minds worked subconsciously to make her act how you thought she would…which resulted in her sacrificing herself to save your lives as you arrived at the Hall of Justice."

He looked towards Christine who stiffened in shock as everyone turned to look at her.

"When my first plan failed" Manhunter began and everyone turned to listen intently, except for M'gann who turned away. "I decided to go into the scenario myself. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion…there was too much…noise to think clearly…to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped. But only when the mothership exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced, did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose. To shock M'gann out of the exercise before your comas became permanent. My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous…so damaging"

He trailed off and everyone watched as M'gann put her head in her hands and began to sob. Captain Marvel came over to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

Christine barely listened as Batman and Red Tornado muttered quietly with Martian Manhunter, as they helped him stand up. Instead, she looked up at Dick, who was still staring down at her like he'd seen a ghost.

Slowly and cautiously she wrapped her arms around his neck and held her to him. She waited for a moment before hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her, breathing deeply as he tried to calm himself down.

"You fell…" he breathed in a half-broken whisper into her shoulder "I saw you fall…just like them-"

"Shh…it's okay…it's okay…I'm here and I've got you now, it's okay…" She stroked her fingers through his hair softly. She was still seething with anger, he could feel her almost vibrating from her rage, but she quelled as much of it as she could as she sucked in deep soothing breaths.

She could be angry at Batman later. Right now, she had her brother and friends to worry about.

She heard someone call out orders, but they were distant and mumbled. It was only when she felt her partner detach himself from her grip that she let him go.

As soon as they were free, she looked at the team at large. M'gann was now being held by Conner, Kaldur, Artemis and Wally with Wolf trying to nose his way into their midst. Dick made his way towards the group in a rush.

Christine turned back to look at Batman. She was looking so hurt and so angry. His eyes darted to her sides where her fists shook as if ready to punch something. As he made eye contact with her again, she shook her head and turned her back on him.

Batman watched as she stormed off to join her friends, trying and failing to hide the guilt that was spreading in his heart as he met Martian Manhunter's eye.

_She knows._

The Martian nodded his head quietly, his heart swelling with pity for his dark, brooding comrade who sighed sadly to himself.

He'd stepped over too big a line and now… he was reaping his reward.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 17 2010, 04:26 EDT** _

Christine Hallows sat silently in the Mountain's kitchen island, staring down at the cup of now cold milk she had been sipping at all night.

She hadn't seen hide nor hair of Batman since he'd left her and the team yesterday evening after that disastrous failsafe simulation. And a good thing too. She was quite ready to rip his eyeballs out with her bare claws.

All her team were now fast asleep in their beds, exhausted from their ordeal, but Christine could not sleep. Too many thoughts were swimming around her head.

One screamed to her the loudest as it bounced around her skull like an echo in a dark cavern.

_Genomorph hybrid… Genomorph hybrid… Genomorph hybrid…_

Her free hand shook as she stared at it in the dark, yellow eyes glimmering strangely in the reflection from the polished metallic fridge door.

_I'm not even human._

She shivered as she looked at the bandage she had wrapped around her palm where her nails had cut into the skin.

_I was created…in a lab…I was an experiment-oh god…oh god I really am a freak…_

Hot wet salt trickled down her cheeks and she gasped for a choked breath. But the tears just would not stop flowing. It was like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her reservoir wall of self-control and smashed it open.

She sobbed, fists clenching as she smelt the familiar musky scent of sweat and pine waft into her nose.

"Swift?" Conner's voice sounded unsure and timid, a far cry from his usual gruff, grumpy tones.

"Conner?" she sniffed loudly, eyes and nose still streaming even as she tried to wipe at them.

She needn't have bothered trying to hide as she felt the Super clone's large arms wrap strongly around her from the side.

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you" She mumbled leaned into his warm chest, noticing vaguely that he wasn't wearing a shirt again. Had she not seen him as her little brother, she might've drooled all over that chest.

"You didn't." Conner murmured, his chin resting on top of her head. "I couldn't sleep either."

They broke apart gently, Conner keeping a firm grip on her shoulder as he sat down at the island stool next to her.

"Why are you crying?"

"Oh god, where do I begin?" Christine rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the tabletop.

"Is it something to do with Batman?" the Clone frowned, remembering all too clearly the venomous looks of rage she had given the Caped Crusader as he had left the cave last night.

Christine bobbed her head, sniffing loudly as she did her best to compose herself, despite the fact her eyes were still streaming like waterfalls.

"I was…I was on the Batcave computer yesterday while you were in that simulation." She gulped down the lump in her throat as she took a sip of her milk "and…and I found something. A file. About me."

"What did it say?" Conner felt his intestines twist uncomfortably in his gut.

"…apparently…I'm not a…a…a human" she exhaled heavily hands gripping her head of white hair tight. "I'm a-I'm a-a genormorph."

"A genomorph? Like me?"

Christine turned to look at Conner. He was shocked and still upset over her crying, but it could not quite disguise the small spark of childlike joy that had lit up in his eyes.

She nodded silently, and despite herself, she couldn't help but smile a little as he said:

"So what? Does this mean we're siblings or something?"

"…I guess…to tell you the truth I actually never thought about it like that" she admitted softly. "From what I've read in the file, I'm not a clone of anyone. I was made fourteen years ago in a lab the League thinks belonged to Sylas Alderwood just before he became the first director of Project Cadmus."

"If you were a product of Cadmus, then why didn't Desmond recognize you when he captured you with the others?" Conner tilted his head curiously as memories of his first awakening replayed over his mind.

"Desmond only joined Cadmus when Sylas retired three years ago" Christine explained. "Ever since then he's gone off the grid. My guess is that he's either working for one of our enemies or has gone underground for his own protection."

There was a silence as Conner mulled over her words, glancing at her white hair and yellow eyes which had finally stopped tearing up and were now glaring holes into the remainder of her milk in her mug.

"He had a contingency file." her forehead dropped into her hand as her lip wobbled again "Batman. He had a contingency to take me down."

"He what?" Conner snapped in disbelief and she shut her eyes.

"Yeah. I've seen it. It's all there with my profile. All the weaknesses I have and the plans that he can use to take me out or kill me if I became a threat and turned on him."

"But you aren't a threat!" Conner sprung up from his chair angrily and Christine shook her head.

"Tell that to the League. My  **threat**  level at present is  **Neutralized/Under Observation** " she snorted "Listen I don't care what people say about me. The press, Godfrey, the civilians, the league, but Batman… I've known him my whole life. He's like a father to me. I know he's paranoid and he makes contingency plans about everyone that could turn into an enemy, but I thought…I thought I wasn't one of them. I thought he didn't think I could be one of them! I guess I was wrong."

She felt her eyes start tearing up again but didn't bother stopping herself. She was just so sick of everything. She was sick of her powers. She was sick of the public treating her like a dangerous freak. She was sick of her mother's plots to kill her and her friends, she was sick of the League tiptoeing around her joker-gas bomb waiting to go off, but most of all she was sick of her godfather's lies, and skulking behind her back.

_How could he? How could he keep something like this from me for all this time? Didn't he trust me? or was I just an experiment to keep under observation until I became too much of a threat?_

She sobbed harder into Conner's chest. She was tired, everything hurt.

Her stab wound in her stomach, her heart. All of it was aching and she had no idea how to make it stop.

She leaned into Conner's arms as he once again embraced her comfortingly, not noticing the shadow of the bat disappearing from the shadows of the room.

* * *

_**?, October 17 2010, 07:30 EDT** _

An old man sat at the head of a long dining table, waiting as servants served him breakfast.

On the opposite end of the table before a large set of large oak doors, a dark figure in a gold and black owl cowl stood to attention.

"So, she's found the file you say?" the old man sneered as he picked up his knife and fork in his talon-like clutches and began to carve up the eggs on his plate.

"Yes," the shadow in the cowl nodded solemnly. "She now knows what she is."

"And the Batman?"

"We have reason to believe she's angry with him for hiding the truth." The shadow glanced out of the bright window to his left, through which he could see a bright green manicured garden.

"You are worried" the old man set down his cutlery for a moment to study his son, who quickly turned away from the sight of the garden.

"Merely concerned." The shadow admitted softly "The Batman has a way of twisting people to agree with his perspective. She might just forgive him."

"Of course she will" the old man scoffed as he resumed his eating. "But she won't forget. No matter what the two of them might say to console one another, no one can change the fact that this lie has hurt her deeply. She'll never trust him again as she once did."

"I suppose you'll want me to make my move soon?" The shadow grunted grimly and the Old man chuckled.

"Yes, but not just yet." He wiped his mouth with a napkin "I must say, I had my doubts in the beginning, but I am really starting to enjoy watching the Bat squirm. I can't wait to see his face when we finally rip the brat from his side under his own nose."

"Ditto" the shadow muttered, though he didn't sound that enthusiastic about the idea. The old man sneered.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you had reservations about this mission."

"I don't" the shadow growled ", but for me, the reward is far greater than a mere  _hero's_  humiliation. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to rest."

And with that, he turned his back on the old man who merely smirked at his back.

"Be careful what you wish for my boy." He murmured maliciously "You might end up getting more than what you bargained for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Episode 16 is up. it took me a while to write because this is one of the chapters that I had to give a major facelift, plotwise.
> 
> Christine didn't join her friends for the failsafe simulation but she wasn't idle during her time away. Now she knows she's a genomorph and she's not happy. At this point, she's more angry with Bruce for lying to her than actually not being human, but there'll be more on that later on ;). Then there is the whole deal with Ishan (aka Red Knight), which is slowly being unfolded (don't worry all will be explained in due time).
> 
> It was interesting writing the bit where she's researching Scarecrow's crimes because I just realized I haven't written much about her time as the girl wonder in Gotham since the Clayface chapters. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to explore Gotham's Swift in the next few chapters.
> 
> I thought it would also be a nice change to have a little more SwiftRoy, SuperSwift and SwiftRobin family fluff moments as a change. So far we've had a lot of AquaSwift Romance and the SwiftFlash" bromance" (or whatever the female/male equivalent of a bromance is called). Which reminds me I also need to get started on ArtySwift and SwiftMartian bonding at some point.
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed and keep reading and reviewing for more.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	17. Disordered

_**?, October 23 2010, 07:03 EDT** _

The old man in the white suit stood by the open window, overlooking the well-manicured gardens of his magnificent estate. The day was starting out cloudy, but it did not dampen his spirits as the man in the owl cowl stepped next to him to look out over the view.

"It is done then?"

"It is done" the shadow in the mask nodded. "Stuart Hallows is once again dead to the world."

"Good. And the girl?"

"She is still under the protection of her teammates,"

"Not the Batman's?" the old man's lip curled smugly.

"No. She seems to be avoiding his presence."

"It is as we expected then. Very well. It's time we sent out a formal invitation."

* * *

_**Washington D.C,? 2010, ?:? EDT** _

Kaldur was inside the Bio-ship manning his small station but sneakily glancing outside.

She was flying beside the bioship, her hair billowing in the darkening sky as she dodged bright golden beams from dark ships.

His heart raced as he saw her, determined, fierce, focused and yet graceful, sylph-like.

A beam of energy came towards her, and she swooped down to avoid it.

"Kaldur!" Kaldur turned at the sound of his name and saw from the front window a black ship pointing its cannon straight towards them. His eyes widened as he saw a glint of gold as the enemy weapon charged up to shoot at them.

They would never get out of the way in time.

He shut his eyes, ready to be blasted to oblivion when something rammed into them from his side of the Bioship.

He opened his eyes just in time and saw out of his window a glimpse of purple, black and white before being engulfed by a ray of golden light.

There was a searing heat, and he found himself falling into something hard as the ship jostled.

He scrambled to his hands and knees, only to find himself alone. The Bioship was no longer swaying. Instead, it had docked and outside the windows was all dark. Heck, the lighting was now dim in the ship as well.

But not dim enough to hide the red streak he saw on the floor as he pulled himself up to his feet and slowly turned around.

The ship was empty; all save the helm where a figure was sprawled.

They were petite, dressed in black and purple, with long white hair covering their face. Red oozed from a black handle thrust deep into their stomach where a shining metal knife shone in the dim light of the ship. The same red substance could be seen stained and smeared all over the base of the helm's chair in splashes.

He reached out with a shaking dark webbed hand for the figure's face, and a pair of glassy yellow eyes stared back at him from a bloodied and bruised face.

"Kal" a voice whispered from the pale blood-stained lips.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 23 2010, 08:34 EDT** _

Kaldur'ahm's eyes flew open as he jerked awake, coughing and spluttering for breath.

_Still at the cave. Just me alone in my bed._

He looked at the alarm clock beside him and then at the state of his bed. It was an absolute mess. The covers were twisted and drenched with his sweat. He gulped down several breaths of terror as he saw something red in the corner of his eye and jumped.

But it was only the red top of his uniform folded neatly on his desk chair nearby.

The images from the dream flashed across his mind as he jumped out of bed and darted to the bathroom where he splashed his face hurriedly.

The cold water soothed him, though it did little to quench his nerves. With a speed that would've made the Flash jealous, he hurried out of the bedroom and down the hall.

He opened the door three rooms down from his, revealing an empty bedroom. Though it retained all the standard modern, sleek furniture all the team's bedrooms had been decked out in, this room had been decorated to look very feminine and airy. The bed was dressed in pretty whites and shades of lavender, while an elegant set of translucent white lace curtains and fairy lights that had been attached on hooks on the ceiling to obscure it for privacy. The floor had an ivory rug, and there were posters all over the walls. In a far corner of the room, there was a tall bookcase next to the usual desk, with a purple chair and beanbag next to it and an easel where a whiteboard sat half covered in scribbles and case notes.

Kaldur allowed himself a moment to marvel at the room as he quickly peeked inside the also empty en-suite bathroom. Though he'd seen the place once or twice, he'd never really had the proper chance to look at it.

The curtains and fairy lights were new, but he was intrigued by the posters on the wall. He knew Christine was an avid dancer, but it still surprised him to see the prints of famous Ballets, Operas and Broadway shows blaring in his face. There were even cutouts of magazine articles pertaining to famous dancers and performers in between them.

Amidst all the chaos of images, there were two photographs in frames by her bedside. One was a framed black and white newspaper clipping of a nine-year-old Swift and Robin, standing alongside Batman, after having heroically saved the day. The second made Kaldur blink in surprise.

It was a photograph of the entire team. They had taken it shortly after Artemis had joined. He and the girl wonder were standing squished in together in the middle while the others crowded them on the outside.

He smiled softly as he put the photograph down and stepped outside the room.

He could hear something hissing in the distance.

Curiously he frowned as he quietly crept past his teammate's rooms, checking each of theirs as softly as he could. Apart from their usual occupants, no one else was there.

He crept into the common room and sighed in relief.

She was in the kitchen her back towards him, white hair tied in a messy, haphazard bun. He could tell it was her. No other girl at the cave was as short or could move as lightly on her feet as she could.

His breath caught in his chest as she turned in his direction distractedly as she wiped her hands on the small black shorts and the overlarge black and red super shield T-shirt she had stolen from Superboy.

She looked up at him, cheeks flushing a gorgeous rosy pink as she took in his appearance.

The Atlantean looked down at himself and realised with a jolt, that he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants leaving his tattooed chest and arms open on display.

"G-Good morning" He mumbled quickly folding his arms over his chest.

"Good morning Kal. I made pancakes" Christine yawned as she stretched her body out tiredly.

"Pancakes?" Kaldur breathed.

He was way too distracted as his gaze moved across her shirt looking down at her now exposed stomach. There a large scar marred the smooth skin from her upper left waist diagonally down to her navel.

Such a brutal, sadistic mark. It made him shiver even as she happily flipped the pan in her hand.

"Yeah. I thought it might be a nice treat before we get interrogated by Canary." She grinned as she slid the now finished golden pancake onto an already high stack she had on a plate next to the stove.

"Whoo! This stove's hot" she fanned herself as she turned off the appliance. Kaldur couldn't help but watch one small bead of sweat trickle down the side of her graceful neck as she began to fan herself down the front of her shirt. It was then he noticed she wasn't wearing a bra.

_No what am I thinking! Snap out of it!_

He quickly gulped and turned his attention to the stack of pancakes instead. He had seen her like this, many times before when she'd stayed over at the cave. So why did his eyes feel so drawn to her today?

_It must be the dreams I've been having._

He told himself firmly, but he could not help himself from glancing at her. She looked so delicate and innocent with that broad beaming smile and messy head of hair. How anyone could even want to think of destroying that made his blood boil in his veins.

"Alright, that's the first batch done! Now come and get them before Wall-Zilla wakes up from his beauty nap" she smirked not noticing him silently staring at her. With a graceful spin on the balls of her feet, she reached up on tiptoe for one of the higher shelves. "Let's see. We got honey and maple syrup. Hmm? Now fruit gotta have fruit. We should have some strawberries in the fridge-ooh! Yes, we've got whipped cream-"

She trailed off as a warm pair of dark, tattooed arms wrapped around her tightly from behind.

"Kaldur?" she blinked, her blush deepening to crimson as she caught sight of his blurred reflection in the fridge door.

She'd never seen him looking so lost and scared before. He had always seemed so sure of himself.

She turned her face to look back at him, vaguely aware that she was still stupidly holding onto the plastic tub of strawberries and the can of whipped cream.

Kaldur meanwhile didn't know what else to do, save tighten his grip around her and hold her closer.

_Oh god, what's happening?_

Christine's heart hammered wildly as her back went flush against his front, one of his hands trailing carefully over the stab wound scar on her stomach.

"I'm sorry" he sighed, his eyes clenched shut as he buried his face into her hair, nose brushing against her temple. "every morning I keep waking up and-"

"It's okay. You don't have to explain." Christine whispered breathlessly as she all but melted back into his hold "Rob, M'gann and Conner all have been randomly hugging me ever since you all got out of that simulation."

"Looks like I finally made it to the front of the queue today" Kaldur smirked into her ear, which burned bright red.

"Lady Killer" she giggled, sighing as she leaned her head back into his chest and Kaldur suddenly had an intimate view of the crook between her jaw and neck.

He was so close that he could almost taste her skin. If he just leaned in a little more-

"Mmmm something smells good!" came a groan from behind them.

With a squeak, Christine jumped, nearly dropping the strawberries and whipped cream as Kaldur quickly leapt away from her.

Behind them, eyes still half shut, Wally trudged into the common room with a loud yawn.

"Yeah…" came another grunt as Artemis, Dick, M'gann and Conner all shuffled into the room behind the speedster.

"…down Wolf…" Conner mumbled grabbing Wolf by his scruffy fur to hold him back. Wolf whined sniffing at the delicious smell in the air.

"Do you need a hand with anything? M'gann smirked as she glanced between a now very nervous fidgeting girl wonder and Atlantean.

"Not for cooking" Christine gulped as Artemis dragged Wolf away from the small plate of freshly made pancakes close to the stove "But perhaps you guys could help set the table?"

"Sure, thing babe" Wally gave a half smile and walked over to the fridge.

"You help out too Wonder Boy. Or else no pancakes for you" Christine swatted Dick's hands away before he could steal a strawberry from her hands.

He nodded with a grumpy pout before shuffling off tiredly to help the others. Christine's smile faltered as she watched them for a moment.

They were all out of it. Even Wally and Artemis weren't arguing over the cutlery like they usually did when they had to set the table together.

She turned back to pour some more of the pancake mix into the pan, trying not to listen to the horrible silence that was her broken team.

She couldn't help but feel guilty. If she'd not been so stupid during their mission to find Tornado, she would never have been stabbed. If she wasn't injured, she might've been able to be with the team and help them in that disastrous simulation. And yet it was also because of her injuries that Batman had put her friends through that hell in the first place.

Then there was Kaldur. He had been acting strange around her ever since Yellowstone. Sometimes she'd caught him glancing her way when he thought she wasn't looking. Even now when he'd embraced her there was something about the way he had looked at her, so intense but also so tender at the same time.

_Maybe this was what Dick was talking about when he said Kaldur doesn't look at me in a normal way…_

She thought quietly. The more Christine pondered it, the more she realised she rather liked his attention. She chanced a glance at him through the corner of her eye as he helped put the other condiments on the table.

If she was honest with herself, he was very good looking, and the way his arms had pulled her close. She could still feel his webbed hand pressed against her stomach and his hot breath on her neck as his lips had grazed her skin-

_Get a grip girl!_

She shook herself gripping the pan tighter in her hand as she flipped another pancake, wondering vaguely where Black Canary was and when she was coming to resume her interrogations.

_At least Dad won't be there with her._

How very wrong she was.

* * *

While the team had been waking up and sitting down to breakfast, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Batman had all arrived at the cave to talk with Red Tornado.

"How are they faring?" Batman growled at the android who was quick to open a security feed of the common room.

"They are currently eating breakfast. They appear to be doing better, though Swift and Aqualad have been unnaturally close to one another" he finished.

"Unnaturally close?" Batman's eyes narrowed as Tornado rewound the security video to ten minutes ago, to see the taller Atlantean boy holding the girl wonder tightly from behind.

"Well, well. Look who's getting cosy." Green Arrow smirked under his breath to Black Canary, who elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Alright, alright I'm going. I'll see you later, call me when you're done." he kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and patted Batman on the shoulder.

"Hang in there, Bats. It's not really that bad."

But it was that bad, Batman fumed inside his head.

It was bad enough his goddaughter was mad at him, now she was canoodling with that-that  _boy!_ He tried to think of something terrible to call the Atlantean but couldn't find anything to call him out on. Kaldur was mature, polite, well spoken, well read and he always treated others with respect, especially Christine. In short, he was, as Alfred would put it, of good stock.

This, however, did nothing to help the Dark Knight's already foul mood.

"You should probably stay out here until I'm done," Black Canary said gently as she shut the security feed off.

"That might take a while" Batman growled.

Behind them, they could hear the whirr of the zeta tube as the green archer left, but they didn't pay him any attention.

"When are you going to talk with Christine?" Canary looked at the Dark Knight who sighed.

"I've tried." he folded his arms "But she's avoiding me at every turn."

"That's never stopped you before" Canary quirked a brow, but Batman just shook his head.

"This is different Dinah. I've really screwed this one up."

Black Canary looked sympathetically at her fellow Justice Leaguer. For the first time since she knew him, she didn't see the proud, grim Caped Crusader. She just saw a man, hurting and desperate to patch things up with his angry teenage daughter.

"Still, try to talk to her. She doesn't know it yet, but she needs you now more than ever." The heroine put a gentle hand on the Batman's arm. "She's scared, confused, vulnerable and if you're not careful someone out there will take advantage of that. And no, I'm not talking about Aqualad." She smirked and knew that under his cowl the Dark Knight was rolling his eyes. "But seriously Bruce, talk with her soon."

There was a pause in which Batman glanced at Black Canary. He never did like confiding his family issues with other members of the League, but Dinah was one of the few exceptions. Not only was she the team (and as a result, his teen partners) counsellor, but she was always a calm-headed, consoling voice of reason. She seldom gave bad advice and was also a considerate listener.

There was a beep as one of the cave communications links suddenly blipped to life.

"Hawkwoman to Batman"

"Batman here. What is it Shayera?" Batman answered immediately, his stoic façade quickly sliding back into place as Hawkwoman's face suddenly sprang up from a holographic screen.

"Superman's just gotten some new intel about the attack on the Hall of Justice. He wants to talk to you…in person."

"I'm on my way. Batman out" Batman shut off the link and turned to Dinah.

"I guess I'll have to come back later."

"Don't worry. I won't start consultations till this evening. Till then I'll be breaking them back into their old routine with some training. They've spent enough time moping about and who knows, a bit of physical exercise might help."

"Maybe" Batman murmured though he still looked troubled.

"Don't worry Bruce." The blonde heroine squeezed his bicep comfortingly "I'll convince her to at least hear you out."

He allowed himself a small smirk of gratitude as he glanced at her and muttered.

"Thank you, Dinah."

Black Canary smiled. It wasn't often the Batman let his guard down, but whenever he did, it was well worth it.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 23 2010, 16:18 EDT** _

Christine Hallows stood under the warm spray of the shower.

Her muscles were sore. It had been the first time since her stabbing since she'd trained in hand to hand combat, so she was happy. She had been gently practising her ballet routines on the side but that didn't really count as strenuous, especially since none of them involved facing off against Black Canary.

_Man, that feels good._

Christine sighed as she shut her eyes and leant her head back to rinse out her hair.

There was a beep on her communicator and she groaned in aggravation.

"Typical." She reached out to the sink next to the shower and tapped her communicator.

"Hello"

"You're in the shower?" A deep scrambled voice spoke from the com and into the bathroom.

Christine froze. Of all the voices she ever expected to hear today, this was the last.

"Gimme a sec" she gulped. In a desperate scramble, she shut the shower off and snatched at her towel, nearly tripping out of the shower in the process.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean to interrupt" the scrambled voice coughed.

_Bullshit!_

Christine rolled her eyes. She could almost see him smirking on the other end. Or at least she imagined he was smirking (she still didn't know what was under that infuriating cowl of his!).

She just hoped he wasn't a pervert as well. That would truly be the worst.

"What do you want?" she snarled as she snatched the comlink and sat on the toilet.

"To warn you." The scrambled voice sounded urgent, no not just urgent. He was worried as he continued. "You will receive an invitation later today from someone. Whatever you do, you must not accept."

"What-why?" she spluttered in confusion only to be steamrolled over.

"I can't explain right now. I might be found out at any second. But please, whatever you may see or hear, do not accept the invitation."

"But-"

"Promise me, Christine! Promise me you won't accept his invitation."

"Alright I promise, but who is  _he_?" she growled in aggravation.

"Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst." the scrambled voice hissed desperately and then hung up.

"Hey!" she cried out but already there were the beeps of the disconnected line in her ear.

_What the hell was that? And what did he mean by of all the old ghosts?_

She quickly strode out her bathroom into her room chewing her knuckle.

"Argh! Why can't anyone give me a straight answer these days."

She grunted as she quickly got dressed in a white T-shirt and long grey and grey yoga tights.

She could hear the thudding of footsteps outside her room. She peeked out cautiously, just in time to see Conner's back disappear down the corridor towards the consultation room at the other end.

_Thank god, I'm not late._

She sighed in relief as she stepped out of her room quietly and slunk in the other direction.

She was quick to find the rest of her team already assembled in the common room area. The distraction of the afternoon's training had all but worn off and now they were just as morose as ever.

M'gann was baking in the kitchen, but her whisking was half-hearted as she stared somberly into the bowl of cake mix in her hands. Behind her Kaldur stood, arms folded as he leaned back against the kitchen counter opposite Wally who was sitting on a stool and draped over the marble top like a sad dog. On in the lounging area, Dick sat, looking surprisingly small and feeble as he curled himself into as small a ball as possible in one corner of a couch.

Against the back of an armchair, Artemis leaned, arms folded as she tried to put on her usual gruff air of toughness and nonchalance.

They were all so sombre that, had it not been for their casual clothes, Christine might have thought they were all attending a funeral.

She wished she had the strength within her to joke about the situation, but even she could not bring herself to break the ice.

Instead, she sat on the floor of the lounging area in front of the coffee table.

Unlike the others, who seemed content with moping about, she just couldn't face the silence. It unnerved her and made all the small background noises in the air louder to her ears. She could hear the kitchen's wall clock in the distance, and the tapping of Artemis's foot on the floor. The scrape of the whisk in M'gann's mixing bowl.

It was a good thing she brought a new crossword puzzle book.

_One down. Used by plant/algae for photosynthesis. Well, that's easy, Carbon dioxide._

She breathed deeply as she focused her attention on the scraping of her pencil against the paper. It was oddly soothing against her mounting nerves.

Superboy had gone in first for his one on one, but who would be next?

* * *

Black Canary sat in the green chair of the consultation room waiting nervously. So far she'd been through Conner (but that technically didn't count as he'd stormed off one minute into his consultation), Artemis and Kaldur.

She'd received the shock of her life when Christine had volunteered to come in for the next session right after the Atlantean. She could only suppose the team had convinced her to go ahead, or the Girl Wonder just merely wanted to get it over and done. Either way, she was quick to steel herself as the automatic doors to the room slid open.

Christine shuffled nervously into the room. She was walking barefooted, even though the air nowadays was starting to get that wintery nip.

She looked up at the older woman who nodded to her and gestured towards the chair.

Black Canary waited until she was seated comfortably before speaking.

"Welcome back. I'm glad you volunteered, I was hoping to have a chat with you. How are you doing?"

"Alright, I guess" Christine mumbled with a scowl "My Dad's in the common room with the others. I'd rather be interrogated by you then face him."

"As I've said before, these aren't interrogations. They're sessions designed to help you." Black Canary sighed. The girl wonder was so defensive sometimes it was irritating. But the heroine supposed she could let this time slide. She was going through a difficult time, and she needed to vent.

"Roy told me about how you two found your file" she prodded gently. "He's not saying much, but he's worried about how you're holding up."

"I'm okay," Christine mumbled glancing down at her toes. "You all knew, didn't you? The league I mean, you all knew about me being a genomorph?"

"We had our suspicions." Black Canary admitted quietly "Batman's always been rather private when it comes to details about your childhood, but after what happened at Cadmus we couldn't ignore it any longer. He had to tell us."

"Yet he couldn't tell  _me_?" Christine glared up at the super-heroine angrily.

"Christine." Black Canary leaned forward in her chair "I don't know why Bruce hid the truth from you for so long, but I do know that he did it out of love. You're the closest thing to a daughter he has. He wouldn't hide a secret of this magnitude from you unless he felt like it would protect you somehow."

"If he loves me so much then why is there a contingency file with detailed descriptions of how to kill me?"

Black Canary gulped.

She had not been expecting that question, and she really wished she didn't have to answer it. But she did. The girl deserved to know the truth.

"Christine…it wasn't Bruce who made that contingency file. It was the League."

"What?" Christine blinked in surprise.

"The Justice League made the contingency file against you.  _Not_  Batman."

"You mean you all-"

"Wrote it. Yes." Black Canary avoided her eye "But you're not the only one. It's standard practice to have contingency plans for all potential Justice League members, candidates and allies including your entire team just in case something happens, like if you're brainwashed or something similar. Usually, it's Batman who takes care of it, but when we brought him your file, he just handed it back to Clark and told him to write it instead. He said he wanted no part in it."

Christine stared hard at Canary's face.

There was no way in hell her godfather ever turned down the chance to write up such a critical report. The Bruce Wayne she knew was a control freak. He liked being in charge. Forget his paranoia; his ego would not allow something so essential to go ahead without his say so.

Even as she studied Black Canary, she couldn't detect any trace of a lie.

With a heavy sigh and a groan, she slumped back in her seat in defeat, much to the older woman's relief.

"Alright fine, so he didn't write up ways to kill me. That still doesn't explain why he kept the secret all these years."

"Maybe if you talked to him, you might know" Black Canary tried gently.

"Or he might just lie to keep me at bay" Christine rolled her eyes.

"He won't Christine. Trust me; I've seen Bruce. He's just as torn up about this as you are. From what I've heard he's even driving Alfred insane. At least hear him out."

Christine scowled at Canary. It was a low blow, bringing Alfred into the mix. If Batman was so miserable that even the old butler couldn't console him, then he must've been in dire straits indeed.

_Damn it!_

"Fine. I'll talk to him." She muttered darkly, pouting as she got to her feet. "Are we done?"

"We're done. If you can send Wally in next that would be great." Black Canary nodded patiently, but already the girl wonder was striding out of the door and out of sight.

The older heroine sighed heavily.

That could've gone a lot worse. Then again it also could've done better.

"Bruce I sure hope you sort this out soon."

* * *

Christine sat alone in her bedroom. It had been an hour since her talk with Black Canary. Wally had gone in for his session, and Dick and M'gann were still waiting in the living room with Batman. Kaldur and Artemis were somewhere else in the mountain doing god only knew what, and Conner was still missing, after apparently taking off straight after his less than helpful session with Black Canary.

She never admitted it out loud, but she worried a lot about the Super clone whenever he went AWOL.

_God, I hope he's okay. It's one thing to storm off in a temper tantrum, another to get yourself into trouble without your com._

Despite her anger, she worried if this was what Alfred and Bruce felt like every time she did something stupid.

_Maybe I should hear Dad out…if only for everyone else's sanity._

She bit her lip clutching at her stomach. It was doing backflips like she had frogs in her gut.

"Christine?"

"Ack!" Christine fell over the side of the bed in her surprise.

"I'm okay!" she popped up, hair a mess as she looked upon the newcomer standing in her doorway.

_Speak of the devil, and he shall come._

Christine's face fell as she caught sight of the black cape and horned cowl closing the door behind himself.

"Oh, hey dad…"

"You should be careful about letting people see that" he muttered pointing at her neck. She looked down and saw that both the chains of her father's dog tags and the silver owl pendant were peeking out from her white T-shirt.

"…I know" she nodded quietly, still avoiding his eyes. It was the first time in nearly two weeks she had been completely alone with him. She could already feel the anger bubbling beneath her skin, but strangely enough, it wasn't burning as hot as before even as he stepped towards her cautiously.

"…I talked to Dinah. She said you might be ready to talk."

"No. I never said I'd talk. I said I would listen. Big difference." Christine snapped folding her arms as she sat cross-legged on the bed glaring at him. "So go on. Spit it out. What have you got to say for yourself?"

Batman stared at her for a moment and pulled back his cowl. Christine watched as the tired face of Bruce Wayne sighed heavily as he ran a hand over his face.

"Fourteen years ago, during my first year of crime fighting, your father was working with me on a case he and U.S. intelligence had been struggling with for months. Several of their undercover operatives in Gotham had gone missing while navigating their way through the Gotham sewers and catacombs-"

"Killer Croc right?" Christine muttered. She knew about that case. Her real father had told it to her often, how he and Batman had raced through the sewers chased by the misanthropic man-eating crocodile man. It sounded like a thrilling adventure when she was younger, only now it sent chills down her spine whenever she thought about it.

Bruce only nodded, glad she was no longer looking at him with such venom anymore as he continued his story.

"Yes. We tracked him down to one of the lower catacombs underneath Wonder City in old Gotham. We had split up to cover more ground. That was when I found a secret lab, hidden in one of the lower levels."

"A lab?" Christine breathed, her heart almost stilling in her chest.

_It can't be, the place from my visions…it couldn't-but that means…_

"Yes." Bruce's jaw clenched uncomfortably. "Just like the ones at Cadmus. That's where I found you…"

* * *

_**Gotham City Catacombs, October 31 1996, 20:08 EDT** _

The walls were grimy, dank and covered in cobwebs and very, very dark. But that didn't disturb the dark cloaked figure that stalked through the halls, silently as a ghost.

He looked side to side quickly checking for other presences. Experimentally he twitched his hand towards the yellow utility belt on his waist.

" _Master Bru-I-I mean Batman._   _The scanners are picking up movement around the next corner, you should be careful._ " An elderly British voice spoke hesitantly in the com in his concealed ear.

"Got it Agent A" Batman nodded and quickly slid into the shadows of a corridor.

" _Yo B-man_ " Another voice, this time of a young man hissed in the com.

"What Stuart?" Batman whispered as he checked his peripheral.

" _You could probably change your voice a bit more. I can still tell it's you under those ears_."

"Of course you could." Batman rolled his eyes as he glided down a couple more empty corridors. "Any status on the creature?"

He could almost hear Swift smirking on his end of the line.

" _Not yet, the sonar isn't picking anything up. Either we've lost him down here or he's lying in wait. But seriously B it's still too close to your normal voice._ "

Batman narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He had to admit that his friend had a point. He poked his head around a corner.

"Well if you've got any suggestions I'd love to hear them" he muttered sardonically

" _Well, you could try going an octave lower and-Shit!_ "

"What is it?"

" _I'm not sure, but I don't think it's friendly_ " Stuart hissed softly.

"What is your position?"

" _Don't bother, I'm sure I can find my way around it. I'll com you if I need any help. Hallows out._ "

_Something's not right._

Batman's hand twitched towards his belt as he heard a tapping sound. Then he sighed.

He'd only heard his own footfall.

_Why is it so silent here?_

He switched the view through his cowl to night vision as he looked around the next bend. There dimly lit for him to see, was a narrow stone corridor, with a small wooden door at the end.

Streaks and splashes of red blood lined the walls and floor as he crept along the passage.

_So, the creature has been here too?_

His eyes narrowed as his cowls scanners picked up the massive claw-like hand and footprints smeared in blood along the walls. From what he could tell it had only dried a few hours ago.

_What was it after? And why did it leave so fast?_

He wondered quickening his pace as he finally reached the door and shoved it open.

He quietly slid inside the door and looked around.

He was standing in what appeared to be a laboratory, lit by eerie pale green lights. On one side of the room, there was a desk and two large bookshelves, both crammed with books and strange specimens floating in liquids. On the other side of the room stood a large table where a full chemistry set had been set up with broken bottles, vials and beakers. In front of Batman and opposite the door, a strange empty pod-like structure fitted with various wires that fed into an old computer console.

In the middle of the room lay a ripped doctors coat stained red in the puddle of blood and guts that had spilt on the floor from the carcass that lay there.

Batman took one cautious step forwards towards the dead man's remains, covering his mouth and nose as the horrible smell of blood and decaying flesh filled his lungs.

He could already see maggots and spiders wriggling and squirming amidst the remains as he took a swab of the blood and pocketed it in a plastic vial for further analysis.

"Ahh!"

Batman froze at the sound. It was small and yet it seemed to pierce the air like a knife as he looked around the room.

Eventually, his eyes found a cardboard box tucked away under the table with the chemistry set.

He strode over towards it, and the whimpering became more fervent and desperate as he came closer and crouched down.

With a careful tug, he pulled the box out from under, the white slits of his cowl widening as he inspected its depths.

It was a baby. Pale skinned with thick dark hair that was messed up as it squirmed amidst some white blankets that had been shoved around it for warmth.

Batman didn't know much about babies (he was still a twenty-one-year-old bachelor after all) but he could tell by the size that this infant was roughly between newborn and one month old.

_But how is this possible?_

Batman breathed as he continued to stare at the infant.

How on earth did that monster ever not notice this child in the room while it was killing his victim? Surely it would've cried at the racket that was being made…

The baby kicked hard, and one part of the sheets moved away from its hips allowing Batman to see its gender.

" _You might want to cover this little one up Batman_ ," Alfred's voice said gently through the comlink as the whimpers began a new " ** _she_** _may not be so comfortable in the cold_."

"…ok..."

With gentle hands, Batman began to pull the sheets back over the wriggling baby girl. As he did, his rough glove grazed her pudgy leg and he stilled in horror as the baby gave a big yawn, its eyes finally cracking open.

_Shit! She woke up! What if she starts crying! It'll give my position away-_

Batman's breath held in his throat as a pair of orbs stared up at him from within the tiny face.

They were both a deep dark chocolate brown. And though they were blurred and not fully formed, they had a pretty shape and long thick lashes.

She tilted her head to the side as she looked up at the Dark Knight who sighed.

"Three, two one" he muttered under his breath looking up at the ceiling.

…

But nothing happened. He looked down again. She was still staring at him, her mouth gaping a little as she scanned his face in fascination.

He scowled as heard a snickering in his ear and knew Alfred was trying to stifle his laughter on the other end of the com. If it had been any other baby that had seen him in his bat suit, they would've been well and truly crying by now.

He was brought away from his thoughts by a soft, high-pitched squawk. He looked back down into the box where the baby girl was fidgeting again this time trying to hold her pudgy arms out to him, making grabbing motions with her tiny fingers.

" _It seems she wants you to pick her up_ ," Alfred said patiently, managing to master his chuckles at last.

Batman stared down at the wide-eyed infant again. Pick her up? But how? What if he didn't support her properly? Her neck was so small? What if he held her too strongly and hurt her?

The baby's wriggling became faster and she began whimpering again with frustration.

Batman gulped as he quietly slipped his arms down. He had no choice. That monster was still out there, and god forbid this baby started crying and gave away his position. He slowly began wrapping her body back in the cloth before scooping her up in his arms.

_Unbelievable! I've trained with some of the best martial arts masters in the world. I can beat up thugs thrice my size, tangle with people with genius intellects and yet a mere baby less than three months old is holding me to ransom._

She stopped squirming, her gaze once again focusing on him as he cradled her against his chest in one arm.

Batman knew he was a big man in stature but now he felt like a giant as he held this tiny being close.

Her dark eyes twinkled up at him. Now that he could see her properly in the dim light he also noticed that her dark hair was actually not black but a very dark brown with natural chocolaty highlights, surprisingly very thick and soft with a gentle curl at the ends. Her nose was very small too with a slight button tip complemented by naturally pink lips which were small but full.

With his free hand, he reached down. Her expression faltered, and he stiffened.

_Oh no did I do something wrong?_

He groaned in his head pulling back his hand. Then he saw something that made his breath stop.

Her tiny hand had grabbed at the tip of his gloved finger just before it could get out of reach. He marvelled silently at the tiny digits and even tinier nails that could barely wrap around half his finger. She was looking at them with such intense curiosity that she'd gone a little cross-eyed.

Despite himself, Batman felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards as he felt a strange but familiar warmth fill his body, one he had not felt in a very long time.

She cooed up at him with interest, tilting her head side to side like a little owl. Batman watched as her eyes seemed to travel around his face taking in the dark lines of the cowl, the slight stubble on his strong chin and the white slits of his mask.

Gently he reached forwards again and began to stroke his fingers along the sides of her face. Her chubby cheeks were so smooth, soft and rosy.

She pulled back her little arm and gave a large yawn, her eyes blinking sleepily.

"She's so small…" Batman muttered softly as he moved his hand to caress the downy locks atop of her head.

" _And quite a darling too I must say_ " Alfred sounded very much assured on his end.

Batman nodded watching as the baby leant into his touch quite comfortable, but his face turned grave. "But that raises an even bigger question. Why is she here of all places?"

" _My guess is as good as yours Master Bruce_ ," Alfred said gently.

Batman stood for a moment watching and listening as the baby's eyes shut and her breathing turned steady and even. The warmth in his chest flared up and seemed to strengthen his resolve.

" _Master Bruce?_ " Alfred now sounded worried at his charges silence.

"I'm taking her back home."

Batman waited with bated breath for his butler's response. Finally, one word came into his ear.

" _Why_?"

"Because," Batman said, and he was surprised at the sound of his own certainness in his voice. he looked around the room. Its walls were bare of anything even windows. "She deserves a life better than this hell."

" _Then once you two and Master Stuart are safely out of that facility I shall begin the preparations. I must say I usually don't approve of you bringing young ladies back to the manor with you, but you are right. These sewers are no place for a child_."

Now Batman really did smirk. He could almost see the delighted look on his butler's face, and he could not blame him. It had only been the two of them (occasionally three whenever Stuart came over to stay) living together in a very dark hermit-like existence in that large house, so this new addition would most definitely be very much welcomed.

Batman's smile softened as the baby girl snuggled herself into his chest, her thumb in her mouth. He didn't know whether it was that warmth in his chest or just another one of his gut feelings or even if it was just innate animal instinct but this child in his arms was something special. How she was so, he could not say but he knew without a doubt that if any threat of harm were directed at her, he would cut it down without thinking or die trying.

He saw flashing over his mind's eye, the familiar nightmarish view of a man stepping in front of him to protect him from a gun pointed to his face. However, unlike the other times, he'd seen this vision he understood why his father had done what he did to protect him.

Because that's what it meant to be a parent.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 23 2010, 19:13 EDT** _

Christine stared at her godfather as he sat down on the bed next to her.

She had heard, but she could not believe it. There was no way the paranoid, sceptical Batman had ever just decided to take in a child from a suspicious looking laboratory without even a second thought.

True he had taken Dick in instantly when his parents had fallen to their deaths but that was different. The Boy Wonder had just gone through the same thing as Bruce when he was a boy, there was empathy when it came to that adoption.

With Christine, there wasn't any of that. She was just an unknown experiment…a creature created in a test tube for unknown purposes. She just didn't understand how someone as cynical as the Dark Knight would ignore that and take her in under his wing so lovingly for all those years as if she were his own.

As if guessing her thoughts, Bruce reached out and gripped one of her hands softly in his own larger ones.

"I know this is a lot to process. And I know it might not make sense now, but when I saw you for the first time in that lab, I didn't see a weapon. I just saw a child who needed a home. A child who deserved better than whatever your creator had planned for you. I didn't tell you the truth because until you found Superboy we didn't know if there were others like you, and I didn't want you to feel alone."

"But I was alone" Christine murmured, her eyes burning as unbidden tears began forming "That's what you don't get. When I was growing up, I was always the odd one out. I never really fit in anywhere. Apart from Freddy, half the friends I have at school only hang out with me because they're friends with Dick."

"Somehow I seriously doubt that" Bruce sighed, and she shook her head.

"You're only saying that because you know me. But we both know its true. I'm not human and whether they're conscious or not, people can sense that when they're with me."

Bruce stayed silent. He had no argument for that. It was a fact, that most humans could inherently sense non-humans amongst them even if they bore a human form, but it was all on a subconscious level. Most of the time all they'd pick up on was pheromones and certain scents, not nearly enough to warrant discovery.

"You told Conner about you being a genomorph." The Dark Knight said quietly and Christine looked up at him in surprise.

"How did you-"

"I came to check up on you all the morning after the simulation. I heard you telling him"

"You're not mad?" Christine frowned, he was handling this way more calmly than she expected.

"Even if I wanted to be, I couldn't." Bruce smirked sympathetically "Besides, you and Conner might not share the same genetics, but you are the same species and, in a way, family. It's not my place to come between that, not when it so obviously helps the two of you."

"You're my family too Dad" Christine put her other hand over their conjoined ones in her lap and squeezed them tightly. "But…how can I trust you to have my back if you won't trust me with yours?"

"I suppose I deserved that" Bruce muttered under his breath and she gripped his hand harder in hers.

"No-no! I didn't mean it like that. I just…Okay, maybe I did mean it a little bit. I mean I'm still mad at you for hiding the truth from me, but I think I'm starting to understand. You love me and you want to protect me. I just want you to trust me to do the same for you…that's all."

"I do trust you. But…but it's never been easy for me to show it." Bruce admitted quietly.

There was a silence in which Christine got up from the bed and stood up in front of her godfather, his hands still in hers as she pulled him to his feet.

Bruce let her help him stand, wincing a little as she then proceeded to squeeze him in a tight hug.

He returned the embrace, his strong arms surprisingly timid as they cautiously looped around her shoulders, one hand resting atop her snowy white locks.

The colour might have changed yet the soft downy texture was still the same as it had been that first time he held her in his arms as a babe.

_Different and yet the same…_

He mused as he allowed himself a moment of tenderness and kissed the top of her head.

This wound might have been healed, but they were both changed.

The Dark Knight could only hope the scars would fade in time before anything worse could try to come between them again.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, October 23 2010, 20:41 EDT** _

The man in the owl cowl stood beneath an open window of Wayne Manor, listening intently to the occupant inside talking on the phone.

"Of course sir. Of course, I shall let them know at once, though I can assure you they would be delighted to accept. Mhmm…yes sir. I will have Master Bruce and the young mistress contact you as soon as they're back from their trip. Yes, sir? Ah of course. Goodbye, sir." Alfred Pennyworth smiled to himself as he began dialling another number.

It was high time they had some good news in this household.

The old butler was completely oblivious to his eavesdropper's presence as he connected to another call.

"Ah yes master Bruce, I've just received word from Miss Christine's grandfather. He's invited her along for a morning brunch on her birthday. What time? oh around eleven o'clock at the Hallows estate. A little treat just for the two of them. Oh, Miss Christine, you're there too. I take it by your presence that you and your godfather have finally patched things up? Oh excellent, may I expect then that you and young master Dick will be returning to the manor soon, it has become quite quiet since you two left. Tomorrow afternoon, splendid, I shall have lunch ready and waiting for you both. Now about your grandfather's invitation-"

"Say no" the man in the owl cowl breathed quietly as he strained his ears to listen "Just say no. Don't do it. Don't fall for it-"

Yet his hopes were dashed, and his heart sank as he heard the butler exclaim happily.

"Splendid, shall I call him and confirm, or would you like to do it personally? Personally, it is then. I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear from you after so long. Very well then-"

The shadow in the cowl sighed softly to himself as he quietly crept out from the window and zip lined himself to a nearby tree, all of which went unnoticed by the old Butler as he chatted away with his charges on the phone.

_I was too late_

The shadow shut his eyes behind his mask as he darted into the shadows of the treetops.

_She'll be in his clutches soon…and nothing I do will be able to stop it._

His face fell into his hands.

"What have I done?"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 23 2010, 22:04 EDT** _

Christine stared around at her team as they sat around the kitchen island with cards in their hands.

Superboy had finally returned from his jaunt outside, bringing with him the strange alien sphere, which for some reason was able to transform into what Wally had dubbed "the Super Cycle".

Everyone wasn't completely happy, but it was clear to see that their moods had all improved greatly after their sessions with Black Canary. It was as if a weight had been lifted off each of their shoulders. So much so that they were even willing to settle down to a game of Uno altogether.

They all chatted quietly as they played, each simply enjoying the others company. Even Wally and Artemis were less argumentative than normal, the archer even laughing at one or two of Wally's jokes, something that the rest of the team never thought they would see.

"I see you and Batman have patched things up" Dick leaned over to Christine quietly from his spot next to her.

"Nice try Wonder Boy" Christine smirked hiding her cards quickly against her chest.

"I'm serious" the boy wonder pouted as he leaned away. "are you two both okay now?"

"Yeah, …we're okay. And we're okay too" she whispered nudging his foot with hers gently.

Dick's smirk softened happily as he relaxed by her side. Finally, his family was back to normal again…well almost normal. He frowned as Kaldur smirked before placing down a green reverse card with a sneaky smirk.

"OH COME ON DUDE! That's the third time you've done that to me!" Wally groaned in frustration. Out of all of them at the table, he still had the most cards in his hands, thanks to the others doing what they could to skip him over or reverse the flow of the game before he could put down his cards.

"Y'know for someone who's never played before you're doing really well" Christine smiled at Kaldur who sat on her other side.

"I suppose. But you have obviously had more practice" Kaldur smirked as the girl wonder was quick to put down a wild card and change the colour to red, much to Dick's anger.

"Damn it!" he cursed. He had only yellows and greens in his hand. "Pass"

"Wait, so I can put down a card of a different colour as long as it's the same number right?" Conner frowned from his spot from Dick's right and M'gann nodded from her spot next to Wally.

"Yep, that's right."

"Good" he pouted grumpily as he quickly put down a yellow card with the number one to go over the matching red card beneath. He'd been waiting for a while now to put down a yellow card. Who knew this game could be so tedious?

"My hero" Artemis smirked from where she was next to the Super Clone and quickly put down her yellow seven.

"Please don't be a reverse, please don't be a reverse" Wally chanted softly as M'gann picked up a card from the deck.

"Don't worry Wally, here" M'gann quickly put down a blue seven and the speedster hissed victoriously.

"YES! Oh, babe, you are amazing." He leaned in to kiss the martian girl on the cheek but was quickly stopped as he felt Christine's leg kick his from under the table.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Walls my leg just slipped" Christine smirked behind her hand of cards at Conner who pouted grumpily.

_Thanks._

Both he and M'gann thanked her mentally and she smiled as she turned to Kaldur whom she had accidentally kicked as well.

"Sorry didn't mean to hit you too."

"It's alright" he smirked and she blushed a light pink.

"Oh my god, get a room you two" Artemis groaned, rolling both her head and her eyes.

"Girl's got a point" Dick murmured in his partner's ear and she scowled.

"Okay, you asked for it. SKIP!" she put down a blue skip card onto the pile.

"What-no! Come on Missy we're supposed to be partners."

"Sorry  _partner_ , but all's fair in love and war" Christine giggled doing her best to ignore Kaldur's deep chuckles beside her. Oh, how the sound made her knees wobble, even when sitting down.

The rest of the team laughed as the young bird pouted moodily behind his shades, but the effect was ruined by the small upwards quirk of his lips.

There was the padding of footsteps as Red Tornado entered the room.

"Team, seeing as tomorrow is a school day, perhaps you all should go to bed early."

"Aww come on! Things were just getting good!" Wally whined.

He wasn't the only one. Even Conner, who didn't really like the game that much was reluctant to hit the hay. They tried pleading with Red Tornado, trying to persuade him that he could let them go just this one time.

However, they were all forced to shut their traps as the android cut across all their complaints firmly.

"Perhaps you'd all prefer it if I contacted the Batman and told him of your unwillingness to adhere to a proper sleep regimen-"

"NO!" all teenagers blurted out in unison and they quickly began to pack up the game even though no one had won yet.

They may have patched things up with the Bat but that didn't mean they wanted a late-night visit.

Christine sighed as she helped M'gann pack up the snacks they'd taken from the kitchen.

_So…you and Kaldur…_

The martian probed with a small smirk on her face.

Christine blushed a bright pink as she wiped down the counter top with a damp paper towel.

_Me and Kaldur what?_

_Don't play all innocent, you know what I'm talking about._  The older girl squealed excitedly.  _I saw the two of you this morning-_

 _Oh god, how much did you see?_ Christine's shoulders sank in defeat as the Martian girl winked at her.

_Don't worry, I won't tell the others._

_Please don't. I've almost had it with their teasing._

_They just think it's cute that you two are together-_

_TOGETHER?! Wait-wait hold up we aren't together!_

_What?_ M'gann blinked at her in surprise as she hovered the various drinks glasses over to the sink.  _But he was holding you like he was-_

_I know._

_-And he was so close to your-_

_I KNOW!_

Christine quickly ducked her head down to hide her blush as she threw the now filthy paper towel in the trash.

_So if we hadn't come in you two would've-_

_Yes._ Christine sighed as she made her way over to dry the dishes M'gann was washing up.

 _So what are you going to do about it?_ The martian girl finally asked after a pause.

 _I…I don't know…_  Christine admitted, staring down at the plate she was drying.  _I've had crushes before but none of them…well…it's complicated._

 _Huh? Why?_ M'gann frowned in confusion.

 _Because I screw them up._ Christine mumbled as she set the plate on the drying rack.

_Every time I have a crush on someone I get so jittery and nervous. And whenever I do pluck up the courage to tell them I just…I'm either too late and they're with someone or they don't like me back._

_Oh…_

M'gann stared at the girl beside her. Swift always came across so confident and cool when she was with them, so sure of herself. Of all the people M'gann expected to be shy around guys, the young girl wonder was not on the list.

Then again, she realized she didn't know much about the other girl outside of the Team life. While it made her happy to know she was one of the select few Swift felt comfortable being around, it still troubled her that she couldn't know her completely both in and out of costume.

 _Don't worry,_  Christine smiled gently up at M'gann.  _I'm sure one day my dad will let Robin and I tell you who we really are._

_I know, it's just you guys are just so close and yet-_

_So far?_ Christine smirked.

M'gann chuckled and elbowed her playfully in the side.

"Hey, you two coming or what?" Artemis grunted, and the two girls quickly set aside the last of the dishes and joined their friends as they went back down the corridor and into their individual rooms.

After bidding everyone a quick goodnight, Christine quickly shut herself away in her room and collapsed on her bed.

_God, what a day._

She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the twinkling lace canopy she had set up above her head as her com beeped in her ear.

_That better not be Dad calling in. I'm too tired to deal with a case right now._

She put her finger to her ear and sighed.

"Hello?"

"You didn't heed my warning" a scrambled voice growled in her ear.

"What warning?" she grumbled sleepily.

_Great just what I need. Another phone call from that mystery owl._

"The warning about your enemy." The voice snarled angrily "You took his invitation despite me practically begging you not to-"

"What-no I didn't-" she blinked in confusion. When had she ever agreed to meet with any enemy? The only invitation she'd had today was from her grandfather and that was-

She paused, heart racing as she breathed.

No…that couldn't possibly be what he was talking about could it?

"Wait-wait. Hold on a second…If you're talking about my Grandpapa's birthday brunch-"

"Yes, and you accepted-"

"Uh yeah, of course, I did, he's my family. The only remaining family I've got. Not my enemy." she snorted rolling her eyes "And I'm sorry but I'm going to see him whether you like it or not."

"No-Christine wait you don't understand he's not-"

But too late, she'd already hung up the line on him.

It felt rather satisfying, she mused as she turned off her communicator and set it by her bedside. For so many months this mysterious shadow had been haunting her and had been having the last line. Now she finally got to turn the tables on him for a change.

Even so…he did sound desperate…

_NO! Grandpapa can't be against me. We don't talk much anymore but he's always been so kind and sweet to me._

Yet her shadow had been right about her mother's dastardly plans. What if he was right about her grandfather too? What if there was something he was hiding?

_But then how would he know about the plans? Something doesn't add up._

She frowned as she sat up and walked over to her closet. As she got dressed in her Batman themed pyjamas, she mulled over his warning.

"Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst," she said aloud. She knew the phrase well. It was from the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, one of her favourite books. It was a sentence that had stuck with her for years, especially since her father had disappeared.

_Is that why you haunt me day and night?_

She frowned as she turned off the lights to her room, imagining the black owl masked shadow in the corner.

_Are you an old ghost of mine?_

If so which one was he? Because she was in no short supply of loved ones lost.

She shook her head to herself as she crawled into bed and tucked herself under the covers.

It didn't matter if her grandpapa was supposedly  _evil_  or not. She would still go to that brunch if only to find out what he was up to.

She rested her head against her pillow. She could worry about all that later. Right now, she just wanted to delve into dreamland and forget everything else.

Meanwhile, outside the mountain in the trees surrounding it, a pair of wings silently swooped down and a sharp talon clasped tight around a small frightened mouse in the undergrowth. There was a tight squeeze, a squeak followed by a loud CRACK and the owl devoured its prey, bones and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's episode 17 done and dusted. Again another full overhaul plot-wise hence why it took a while.
> 
> We're getting closer to finding out more about Christine's mysterious shadows and what they've got planned. And Batman has told her the truth about how he first found her and they've made up, but the damage has been done. More AquaSwift romance and a little sisterly SwiftMartian bonding at the end.
> 
> Anyways keep Faving reading and reviewing and i'll see you all next time.
> 
> Adeiu
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	18. Secrets

**_Star City, October 31 2010, 02:01 EDT_ **

Two dark figures were darting rooftop to rooftop one behind the other. The hunter and the prey. But the victim was faster than the hunter.

His long legs propelled him as he climbed quickly up a wall and hoisted himself up onto a roof.

He landed softly, his boots barely making a sound as he skidded to stop in a crouching position. His dark, full-bodied stealth suit was tough to discern amongst the darkness even with the red accents and red chess knight emblazoned on his chest. Though he wore a visor, his catlike amber eyes glinted like little lights in the dark.

He watched as his pursuer, a man in a sleeveless black suit with a red torso that complemented his amber hair, jumped onto the same rooftop, prepping another arrow to shoot from his red bow.

Red Arrow narrowed his masked eyes as he shot an arrow with red fletching from his bow. It sliced through the air deadly and well-aimed, though it still missed the mark, merely grazing the target's cheek and flinging off the hood, revealing a mop of wavy jet-black locks.

He blinked, and suddenly the dark figure had vanished from his sight.

_What the-_

Red Arrow gripped his bow tighter and wheeled around as someone chuckled behind him. He saw the amber eyes, sharp and keen like a cat's glimmering eerily in the dark.

_What the hell is this guy?_

"Not bad" the man's voice sounded metallic as he spoke through a gas mask around his mouth, but one could still hear the amusement "I can see why Christine respects you. Roy Harper."

Red Arrow's eyes widened. "You…you're Ishan"

Ishan's eyes narrowed "So she's finally told you?"

It was more a question than a statement.

"But I bet she hasn't told you everything.

"What are you talking about?"

Ishan smirked as he took a step forward so that he was now level with Red Arrow and leant into his ear.

"Oh, I think you know very well what I mean. The Mole. Did you honestly think that your little team would not be infiltrated if the opportunity did not present itself to us? You see Christine is not the only who has secrets. Some of your other little friends have some skeletons in the cupboard that might be worse than a mere connection with one of the world's most deadly women."

Red Arrow's eyes widened, but he stood his ground, his grip so tight around his bow and arrow that it almost hurt his hands.

"Putting you, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin aside you still have four candidates for mole. One is a Martian who could be telepathically influenced and blackmailed. One is the daughter of a pair of criminals. There is also a super clone which could be programmed to be a sleeper agent and finally a little girl so afraid of losing what she cares about so badly that she would be desperate enough to change sides and do the dirty work for us to save all of you. Pitiful maybe, but I could expect nothing less from her."

"She's not pitiful" Roy gritted his teeth.

"If you say so." Ishan shrugged casually "But between you and me, I think we can both agree, as men, that she is turning out to be a real gem. I mean give or take a year for her to  _develop_  more and I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that-"

Red Arrow roared lunging at him with a fist which missed the mark but still hit his opponent's shoulder.

Ishan wheeled back before stumbling slightly. He had reached the rooftop's edge which was standing a good 500 feet high above the street. Red Arrow saw this and chucked his bow to the side, grabbing the man by the scruff of his suit holding him above the drop.

"Don't. You. Dare" he snarled venomously "Don't you dare even  _think_  about even touching her again after what you did-"

"Sorry but I already did" Ishan merely raised his eyebrows, looking quite relaxed. "And let me tell you it was amazing."

Red Arrow shifted his hands into a strangling hold over the other man's neck.

"Going to kill me?" Ishan smirked.

"I'm very tempted to" Red Arrow gripped his neck harder, and he winced.

"But you know I'm right."

"Why you-"

"Please give my regards to the Batman when you see him" He rasped before muttering under his breath. Red Arrow strained his ears to hear but suddenly everything…turned black…

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, October 31 2010, 07:23 EDT** _

A tendril of wind blew against her cheek.

The light of her bedroom was dim, even though the sun had risen sufficiently. But that was Gotham City, so dirty and polluted that the sky was always grey even in the summer, or wait…no now it was autumn.

Christine cracked open an eye, yawned and then pulled back the curtains of the four-poster bed.

Everything looked much the same as always except perhaps for one curtain that hung over her window seat. It fluttered gently in the morning breeze.

_Strange. I could've sworn I'd locked the windows._

She had just swung her legs over the side of her bed when she felt a breeze from behind her. She turned quickly and saw the door to her room was open just a crack. She bit her lip as she looked between it and the window and then back to the door and then-

"RAR!"

"KYAA!" Christine shrieked as someone tackled into her from behind. As she struggled against them, they clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Whoa! Calm down Missy it's just me!" they laughed.

"Dick!" Christine groaned in aggravation, but she stopped struggling.

"G'morning!" Dick chuckled and held her to him, plonking his chin on her shoulder.

"Good morning to you too. Was all that necessary?" But he could see Christine's grimace of annoyance slowly began transforming into a smile.

"Well…it is Halloween…so yeah...pretty necessary I guess." Dick grinned before promptly letting his partner go. "Come on you've got your Grandpa's brunch to get ready for!"

"But that's at eleven, and it's seven now" she whined.

"Yeah but you've got presents waiting for you down at the kitchen" Dick smirked in her ear.

Christine groaned as she weighed her choices. On the one hand, she wanted to sleep in a little, on the other the idea of opening presents did excite her.

"Fine, presents it is." She groaned, and Dick hissed in victory before dragging her out of the room.

They were quick to arrive in the kitchen, much to Bruce's and Alfred's amusement.

"Good morning Alfie! Morning Bruce"

"Good morning master Dick and a very Happy Birthday to you as well Miss Christine" The old butler smiled warmly at the young girl as she trudged over to give both him and Bruce a hug and a peck on the cheek each.

"Thanks, Alfred. G'morning Dad." Christine yawned seating herself at her spot at the breakfast table where a giant pile of presents was stacked neatly.

"Uh…are you sure these are all mine?" Christine blinked at the mass of paper and boxes. She had never seen this many in front of her since she was a small child. Many of them had either purple or Halloween themed wrapping paper.

"Very sure" Bruce smirked from his spot behind the paper. "Some are from the team."

"The team?!" Christine frowned. Apart from Wally or Dick, she had never shared her birthday with anyone on the team.

"I told them" Dick muttered rolling his eyes as his partner stared in surprise at him "Though it was Wally's fault. Conner overheard him asking what you wanted this year. Then M'gann got involved, and it all snowballed"

"That overtalkative hamster" Christine sighed heavily shaking her head. "I swear one of these days-"

"Well, Mister West's lack of subtlety aside, it certainly was sweet of your friends at Mount Justice to buy you presents at such short notice." Alfred quirked a brow down at his charge.

"I suppose you're right" Christine smiled as she reached for the first package, which happened to have a book inside,  **Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography.**

"Always on point" Christine smiled as she read the card and saw it was from Marty and his brother George from school. She was quick to open another present next this one from Barbara Gordon which turned out to be a small black jewellery stand shaped like a ballerina doing an arabesque.

"I'm sensing a heavy Dance theme this year" Dick smirked as Christine opened up her gift from her B.F.F. Freddy which also turned out to be a new duffle bag she could use for dance. When the girl wonder opened the bag to check inside, she found a cute crème turtleneck with a high waisted short purple and black tartan skirt.

_"_ _For when you-know-who finally asks you out" Really Freddy?_

Christine scowled as she quickly tucked the card away soon before any of her family could read it.

She was swift to move on to the next present which turned out to be from M'gann. It was a box of Christine's favourite homemade chocolate and peanut butter cookies, which she had to shut tight so that temptation wouldn't grab her.

_I'll be keeping those somewhere safe._

She mused as she caught sight of Dick trying his best to sidle over sneakily towards the box. She was quick to swat him off as she moved to open the rest of her presents.

From Wally and Artemis, she got more books on Ballet and the history of Dance. It nearly made Christine's day when Dick told her that the speedster and the Archer had gone with one another to the same bookstore together alone to find the books.

_Now how to get them to go on a proper date?_

She smirked as she opened Conner's gift, which happened to be a small black T-shirt in her size with her signature purple hexagonal "S".

"' _Now we match. Happy Birthday, Swift. Love, Conner.'_ Aww." Dick mockingly cooed over the simple hand-written card, cackling as she slapped the back of his head.

"Don't be mean, I think it's sweet. I'm so wearing this next time we're in the cave." she smiled wide as she snatched the card from her partner. She looked at Conner's handwriting. he wrote in clean cursive strokes, not overly flourished but still surprisingly fluid, a far cry from the scrawls and scribbles he used to do when he first left Cadmus.

She was happy with Roy's present of a lucky fox charm he got while on a mission in Japan. He was still trying to follow Cheshire's trail, but so far, the assassin was always one step ahead of him.

_I hope he doesn't strain himself too much. God knows he could use a break._

She thought as she came up to the smallest present which was packaged in a small dark turquoise pouch.

" _'_ _Happy Birthday to a wonderful teammate and a dear friend. Kaldur.'_  Pff! Lady Killer" she smirked as she looked down at the small tag, ignoring the way Bruce peered suspiciously from behind his newspaper as she opened the pouch. Inside was a shimmering silver bangle with three differently shaped seashell charms. Each one had an Atlantean rune etched into them.

"Well, well someone certainly is getting spoiled on her birthday" Alfred smirked as Christine put the bracelet on her wrist, admiring it in the kitchen light.

"Kal said he got it from Atlantis," the boy wonder said oh-so-offhandedly as he poured milk over his cereal, "Said he found it while swimming through the markets and thought you might like it."

"Did he now?" Bruce scowled much to Alfred's amusement as he examined the bracelet on the young girl's arm.

"Well, I have not yet met this young Kaldur'ahm, but I must say, he has  _good taste_." he gave a pointed look to the girl wonder who blushed and ducked her head shyly as she reached for the three remaining presents.

"Oh Alfred you didn't have to-" she protested as she caught sight of a small box with a card that had the butler's handwriting.

"Oh yes I did, now open it, Miss Christine, we haven't got all day." Alfred smiled as she tore open the wrapping to reveal a box in which a silver pocket watch sat on a satin cushion.

"I thought you could use it for your Ballet. I understand your old one has finally, how should we say, kicked the bucket?" Alfred poured her a glass of water and set it down beside her.

"Yes, I did. Thank you, Alfred." Christine stood up and hugged the old man tight.

Dick sniggered as Alfred's cheeks blushed scarlet and his moustache bristled with bashfulness.

"Ahem, now I do believe young master Dick has a present for you as well."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up" Dick shook his head as both Christine and Bruce snorted with laughter at the inside joke. He quickly handed his gift to his partner, which was a new set of expensive calligraphy pens and beautiful writing paper to go with it.

"Very nice" Christine smirked in approval as she checked the ink cartridge. She'd been looking to buy some new pens for a while, but between her rigorous ballet training and hectic hero life, all her other hobbies had taken a back seat.

She was thrilled with the pair of earrings, the purple dress and the new purple holo-watch from Bruce who also said he'd made some updates to her suit as well that he would show her when she got back from her grandfather's brunch.

She had a sneaking suspicion that the Dark Knight was over-spoiling her a little in the light of recent events.

She had no time to contemplate the matter when suddenly her new holo-watch beeped loudly.

Bruce and Alfred both smirked in amusement and pride as both the girl and boy wonder leant over to read what that they had received.

"Message from Kaldur" Christine muttered looking sidelong at Dick who nodded.

"What's wrong?" Bruce's eyes narrowed.

"M'gann, Wally, Artemis, Zatanna and Conner are all going out this evening for Halloween celebrations." Christine read aloud from her screen "I know you might have plans but Red Arrow has found some intel about the mole situation that needs looking into. If you can inform Batman and try to get him to come along as well. If not still come to the cave to talk. Kaldur. P.S. Happy Birthday Christine, the team and I wish you the best and I hope that you enjoyed your presents."

Christine froze and looked at Dick who gulped.

"Kaldur… knows… who we are?"

Dick nodded slowly.

Christine turned to look at Bruce.

"Aquaman told him our secret identities before you met at the Hall of Justice," Bruce said, surprisingly calm about the whole situation as he sipped his coffee.

"And you were ok with that?" Christine quirked an eyebrow.

Bruce sighed. "I had met Aqualad before when Aquaman first introduced him to the Justice League. After observing his character, I had no qualms about Aquaman letting him in on the secret, especially since he's proved himself a capable leader of the team."

"And you knew this?" Christine turned to Dick.

"Not knew but rather guessed" he shrugged "I mean he always so conveniently never picked up on our occasional slip-ups did he"

Christine nodded in understanding, but she still felt quite miffed. She'd always thought of Kaldur as being one of her closest friends, and yet he'd managed to keep her in the dark about this. If he knew her identity why didn't he tell her, she would've understood.

Seeing her hurt face, Dick nudged her shoulder affectionately. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sure Kal had a good reason for not telling us that he knew the secret."

"Yeah you're right" Christine sighed "It's just I feel a bit stupid now!"

"You and me both" Dick muttered. "I wonder what Roy's got on the mole situation?"

"I doubt its good." Christine sighed as she began flicking through the pages of her birthday books. "If it weren't he wouldn't be calling Batman."

"Hmm," Batman hummed from his coffee sternly. He had to admit he was still worried about there being a traitor on the team. Artemis, Conner and M'gann all had traits that made them exceptionally suspect, but by the same token Kaldur, Dick and Christine also could potentially be traitors (even though he dearly hoped the latter two were not). Yet as he had observed over these past few months, there was a genuinely strong bond between all six young heroes, one that could not be faked no matter how hard one tried.

He could only hope that bond was strong enough to overcome whatever hurdles that came next.

* * *

_**Hallows Manor (Gotham City), October 31 2010, 11:00 EDT** _

Christine stared up at the large manor house. It had been years since she last was here, and she'd almost forgotten what it looked like.

Like the Wayne Manor, the Hallows Manor was one of the oldest buildings in Gotham with tall columns and high vantage points. As with most old Gotham architecture, there was no shortage of gargoyles and stone effigies carved all over the building. However, many of them, Christine noted, were predominantly bird-like, most of them some form of owls, all of whom had watchful eyes that seemed to trace her every step as she walked alone up to the giant oak front doors.

_God, I forgot how creepy this place could be._

She gulped, doing her best to ignore the two stone owls that stared her down from atop of the columns beside the doors. Who needed sentinels when they had those watching your every move?

The door opened, and a tall, austere-looking woman, dressed in a stiff, formal looking skirt suit poked her head through.

"Hello, Agatha." Christine greeted the woman who sniffed down at her.

"Ah, Miss Hallows we've been expecting you. Please do come in." she opened the door wider to let the young girl through, eyes sweeping over her shrewdly.

Thanks to the black and purple glamour charm choker, Christine now had her old appearance back. Her brown eyes darted around nervously behind her rectangular glasses as she swept a stray wisp of brown hair behind her ear from where it had fallen out of her high bun. She wore a knee-length white lace dress, with black stockings and boots with a short lavender cardigan over the top.

"Your Grandfather is awaiting you in the eastern gardens. He enjoys taking in the morning sun whenever he has his breakfast" Agatha clipped as she led the young girl through the massive hallways to the other side of the house.

Christine followed her quietly, glancing around at her surroundings. Nothing much had changed in the four years since she'd left. The furnishings were still as lavish as always, most of them in pale cremes and rich maroons with a polished dark wooden floor. Paintings and tapestries hung from every high wall, many of them were portraits of the Hallows family ancestors.

She was quick to recognise her father's portrait hanging in the formal sitting room as she passed it by and her heart ached.

_No. Keep a smile on your face._

She told herself as she walked out a set of large glass doors which led out into a vast garden, decorated lush with flowers and hedges. Everything was beautiful and neat, and the scents of the flowers were soothing to her as she strode down the garden path which ran along the side of a stream that led down to a large pond.

It was there, set out on a small manmade stone patio that an old man sat at the head of a table. He was tall and was wearing a white suit with a dark blue shirt underneath. His head of silvery white hair had been combed neatly back to reveal what was once a handsome face, now lined with age and wisdom. His warm brown eyes crinkled as he smiled warmly at the girl wonder and stood up. As he did, he leaned on a black cane with a silver handle, shaped like a bird's talon that clutched an orb.

"Hello Grandpapa" Christine smiled as she strode over to the old man who reached out to return her embrace as she kissed him on both cheeks.

"Happy Birthday my Christine. It's been so long, let me have a look at you." Stuart Hallows Senior chuckled as he held his granddaughter out at arm's length to inspect her. "My, my you certainly have grown."

"Well, it has been two years" Christine smirked.

"Shall I tell the staff to bring the food down sir?" Agatha said from the side, her stern expression softening ever so slightly at the heartwarming reunion.

"Yes, thank you, Agatha. Come, take a seat" Hallows senior gently steered his Granddaughter to take a seat at his right hand at the table.

"Now, you must tell me if this is true or not, but I've heard from my friends at the Gotham Opera that you are to be the star in the Nutcracker this Christmas."

Christine blushed, she hadn't told many people she had gotten the part of Clara in the Nutcracker. She hadn't even told the team (if only because Artemis was already suspicious about her dual identity at school). The only people that did know were Bruce, Alfred, Dick and Wally (but only because the Boy Wonder had blabbed), and her few school friends.

"It's only the part of Clara, Grandpa." She coughed to cover up her embarrassment "Besides I don't do much for the second act. It's mostly Sam who does the heavy lifting there."

"Sam?" her grandfather frowned.

"Yes, Samantha Vanaver." Christine shrugged "She's the prima ballerina of the company, and she's playing The Sugar Plum Fairy."

"Ah, I see. A Vanaver how interesting" Stuart Senior mused grimly and Christine rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you still hold by that petty feud. She's nice, and she's been a real help in rehearsals."

"I suppose," Stuart Senior sighed "But still be careful. Vanaver's are a slippery lot. Ah, here comes our brunch."

Christine turned in her seat to watch as several servers came in with a tea trolley and several trays.

"Chamomile tea is still your favourite I assume?" Her grandfather smiled as an ornate tea set was set out for them.

"Yes, it is" Christine smiled politely as she looked at the spread of food. There were all her favourite dishes and pastries laid out before her as well as several different drinks and juices. She hadn't had a brunch like this in years. Not since her father was still with her. Now that she thought of it she never usually sat to the right of her grandfather, that was her father's place whereas she had always been seated to the left.

_It's just a seat. And Papa's not around anyway. Why shouldn't I sit here?_

She reasoned in her head, yet unbidden, words in a deep scrambled voice echoed in her mind.

_"Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst."_

_Just what did he mean by that? And why didn't he want me coming here?_

"Christine? Is everything alright dear?" her grandfather's voice cut through her thoughts, and she quickly coughed and took a sip of her tea.

"It's fine. Everything is lovely. It's just…" she trailed off, and her Grandfather nodded solemnly.

"You miss your father. I miss him as well. It's a shame he couldn't be here to see what a lovely young woman you have become."

"Quite honestly grandpa I haven't felt that lovely recently," Christine admitted quietly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. With a quick flick of his hand, the servers quickly left them to stand some way away close to the pond but still far enough to be out of earshot.

"It's nothing" Christine stared down into her tea. "Just school and life getting all hectic on me. Y'know typical teen drama."

"I see. And does this teen drama have anything to do with the bracelet you wear?" he glanced down at the silver shell bangle on her wrist.

"This? It's just a birthday gift from a friend" Christine blushed a faint pink, though the corners of her lips quirked upwards as she fingered the silver band.

"A friend who's a boy?" her Grandfather smirked.

"What makes you say it's a boy? It could be a girl." Christine countered smirking, but he wasn't fooled for a second.

He chuckled softly.

"There's no need to be so defensive my dear. You must like this boy a lot if you wear his gift so proudly."

Christine's blush deepened as she quickly filled her plate with pastries. She was grateful when she heard footsteps sound behind her.

"What is it, Travers?" Stuart Senior sniffed waspishly to a man dressed in a security uniform as he sipped at his tea.

"Sir we found this hidden amongst the trees nearby" the guard stepped forward and held out his hands. "We think it was spying on you."

Christine almost choked on her scone that she had bitten into.

It was a Micro-bat drone, with all four of its wings broken and a hole straight through the spherical black metal body.

"Thank you, Travers, leave it here and go back to your post, I will take care of it." her grandfather's eyes turned stern on the man who quickly bobbed his head and scuttled away. Christine narrowed her eyes as she noticed the guns strapped to the man's sides.

"Your security is very heavily armed Grandpa" she frowned at her grandfather who raised his eyebrows at her, calmly but coolly.

"One can never be too careful, especially in Gotham City. Now," he examined the Micro-Bat drone closely as he placed it on a clean spot on the table. "Would you care to explain why  _this_ was keeping such a close eye on us?"

"Um…I don't know." Christine gulped, though she could feel her gut sink as her Grandfather's piercing gaze bore into her.

"Really? Because it seems to me that you recognised the design."

"I don't" Christine spluttered "Really Grandpa I don't know what that is."

_Dad, what were you thinking to send one of those here?_

She hissed in her head. The Dark Knight must've sent this after her to keep an eye out for danger. That was the only explanation she could think of that made sense.

Her grandfather, however, was not so convinced.

"Are you sure?" His eyes narrowed "Because it looks to me like one of Batman's designs."

"It's…" Christine bit her lip and shut her eyes. God, she hoped this lie worked. "Alright, it's not Batman's. It's mine."

"Yours?" Her grandfather quirked a brow, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yes. I commissioned it from Wayne Tech to follow me if I go alone somewhere."

"I see…" her grandfather leant back in his chair, pressing his long, wrinkled claw-like fingers together thoughtfully. "And pray tell why you would want a drone following you around everywhere?"

"I-I've received some threats recently from some of the Gotham Rogues" Christine gulped down another sip of hot tea to hide her nerves. "Dad-I-I mean Bruce wanted to add people to our security detail, but I thought it would be easier if I just had a small drone follow me around. I mean it's tough going to school with security guards tailing you every minute of the day."

"I suppose." Her grandfather drummed his fingers together. "Forgive me. I was simply cautious, though not as much as Bruce appears to be. I would've thought he trusted my security-"

"Grandpapa, he just wants to be sure, that's all," Christine assured him gently, but he shook his head.

"I understand, though it seems to be an extreme way to keep an eye on you. You are an intelligent girl, surely he can trust you with your safety to some degree?"

"He does," Christine said, though deep down her heart was not entirely in the statement. They might've patched things up but since when did Bruce ever honestly trust her with her safety?

The correct answer was no. He did love her, but he never did trust her completely. His hiding her true origins was proof enough of that.

_But what if…Surely if dad knew, he must've known too?_

She looked up at her grandfather, swallowing down the lump in her throat as she asked:

"Grandpapa…what happened when I was born?"

"What do you mean my dear?"

"Well…I was just wondering…I was looking up the details of my birthday, y'know for kicks and I didn't find any record of any hospital listed. Was I a home birth here at the manor?"

Her grandfather stilled where he sat, and for a second she thought she saw something hard behind his eyes before it was veiled behind a forced smile.

"Perhaps, I mean, I don't know the details myself, I was staying in England during the time you were born."

"And before that?" She probed carefully, her eyes scanning him as he ate his fried eggs.

He set down his knife and fork with a sigh and dabbed at his mouth with his napkin.

"How much do you know?"

"Not much" Christine stared down at her unfinished plate, her appetite vanishing as realisation began kicking at her stomach hard. "Only that I was found in a lab hidden in the Gotham Catacombs. A lab that belonged to Sylas Alderwood."

His body barely betrayed even a hint of a reaction as he thought about his next answer. There was something in his eyes the Girl Wonder could not quite figure out. It seemed almost as if he were victorious. But of what?

"Then you know the truth then…about what you are?" he murmured as he closed his plate.

"Yes" Christine nodded, nails twisting in the napkin on her lap.

Her grandfather sighed heavily.

"I was wondering when this day would come. How did you find out?"

"Let's just say I've changed a lot since you last saw me" Christine snorted.

"Show me." Stuart Hallows Senior's voice was stern as he looked at her face. It was not a request. It was a command, one that Christine felt compelled to follow, even if she was reluctant.

_He is my grandfather. My family. My flesh and blood (sort of). I can surely trust him with this one secret. Besides he already knows I came from the lab._

She sucked in a deep breath, shut her eyes and reached for her glamour charm around her neck, and undid the choker's clasp.

She winced as she heard his sharp intake of breath and held her own as she awaited the scorn. Nothing came. Nothing except an old wrinkled hand that gently nudged her chin to look upwards.

"Let me see your eyes."

She opened her eyes and blinked as she saw a pair of fiery yellow eyes staring back at her from within her grandfather's face as he smirked:

"Perfection. Utter perfection."

Christine stared at her grandfather. She could not believe what she was seeing.

His eyes were just like her own, yellow with an orange ring in the centre and small sharp pupils.

"It would seem you've inherited the family legacy" He smirked down at her jaw which had dropped.

When she spoke, she was a spluttering stuttering mess.

"Y-y-you, you have the-the-the-l-l-like me? H-how?!"

"Brown contact lenses." He smirked "Don't worry all shall be explained shortly, once we have finished brunch. Would you like anything else?" Stuart Senior gestured to the table at large, but Christine shook her head.

Forget losing her appetite; she no longer had a stomach to work.

"If that's the case," he clicked his fingers at the servers who had remained standing dutifully at a safe distance. "Gentlemen if you wouldn't mind clearing this. My granddaughter and I have finished. Come, Christine. I have much to tell you."

If any of the servants found their master's or his granddaughter's appearances startling, they didn't show it and were quick to follow their orders. They barely even looked at Christine as with surprising speed and force, her grandfather took her arm in his and steered her away from the table and back up the garden's path.

* * *

_**Wayne Tower, October 31 2010, 12:16 EDT** _

Bruce Wayne sat alone in his office on the top of Wayne Tower staring at the small leather-bound book on his desk. He'd been pouring through it for days on end, and last night he'd stayed up after patrol. He was glad Christine had gone to her grandfathers for the morning. She'd throw a fit worse than Alfred if she could see the dark circles under his eyes. Not to mention it would be nice for her to spend time with her remaining relatives.

He turned his attention back to the book before him, its pages had yellowed and bent from age, and its spine was stiff from not being opened for fourteen years. With a careful hand, he flicked back to the first page, where a name had been scrawled in a tiny slanted hand.

_The property of Sylas Alderwood._

He sighed as if the weight of that time was laying itself upon his broad shoulders. It had taken him a long time to find this book. He could only hope it would prove useful in his research.

But first, he had to have a look at the new information Clark had gotten on the Hall of Justice again.

With a sigh, he took the book and shoved it back in his suitcase. Once he'd clicked the security lock shut and scrambled the numbers, he leant back in his chair and closed his eyes as he recounted the case.

Red Queen's assassins had attacked the Hall of Justice during Swift's speech. Also, the villainess seemed to have sent one of her stooges to masquerade as the young heroine's father, Stuart Hallows Junior, as means of messing with her mind. Then as if that wasn't enough she had sent another henchman to attack Swift on her own at Yellowstone before killing the man that had pretended to be Stuart Hallows and dumping his corpse for Superman to find two weeks later.

_Something doesn't add up. Why kill the imposter you sent to torture your enemy psychologically?_

The Dark Knight wondered as he brooded at the ceiling. If the Red Queen had wanted to continue messing with her daughter's mind, why not just keep the imposter alive and use him again and again? Why kill him in such a brutal way?

_Unless she didn't send the imposter, and someone else was using her cronies and cutting in on her kill?_

Bruce pursed his lips as he glared back down at his desk. But who else was out there that would want to target his protégé so specifically?

A memory of the white mask in the Batcave's evidence locker floated over his mind.

No matter how many times he had searched for the culprit that had destroyed the catacomb lab, he had found nothing. Not a hair nor trace of him anywhere. He was thankful Superman had been there too to validate his story because he almost would've thought he was going insane.

_Is that dark shadow? Is he the one responsible? Does he serve an enemy we do not know?_

He shivered as a final thought wafted through his brain.

_What does he want with Christine so badly?_

* * *

_**Hallows Manor, October 31 2010, 12:20 EDT** _

_What the hell is going on? What the hell is going on? First, my grandfather knows about me being a genomorph; then he's got my eyes?! God, I hope this is all just one big Halloween prank, and I'm being led to a surprise party. Yeah, that's it. Maybe it's just a joke for a surprise party! Haha, good surprise! But what about the eyes-Oh God almighty above will someone tell me what the hell is going on right now?_

Christine's heart hammered as her grandfather led her back into her family's manor her mind a whirl of confusion and terror as she was led slowly up the stairs to the upper levels and into the master study on the second floor.

It was a lavish room that looked part sitting room with the many comfy armchairs that sat next to the massive fireplace. On the other end of the room was a tall ornate desk behind which stood a wall where many masks from all over the world hung, illuminated by the golden beams of light that streamed in through the large open windows to their left.

It was at one of these windows that a shadowy figure stood with its back towards them.

_No…no way._

She gasped as her grandfather coughed and the figure turned around, revealing a black cowl with an owl-like set of golden goggles.

He straightened up quickly as he caught sight of the two visitors.

"Sir. I didn't expect you to be back so soon, or with a guest." The man in the cowl's gaze suddenly turned onto Christine shrewdly.

"Ah but Christine is no guest. She is family." Stuart Hallows Senior turned back to his granddaughter, who looked almost ready to faint from shock.

"Come, please sit." He led her quickly to a nearby chair in front of the desk before standing behind it.

"I can imagine you have many questions."

"Understatement!" Christine blurted out, her hands shaking as she pointed over her shoulder at the masked man. "What the hell is he doing here? Who is he?"

"I will answer all your questions, but first you must listen to me." Her grandfather leaned on his cane as he swept his silvery hair back from his face.

"You know the Hallows family was one of the seven founding families of Gotham City, alongside the Dumas, the Vanaver's, the Elliots, The Kanes, the Crowns and of course the Waynes. For centuries we have all practically ruled Gotham from the sidelines, offering help and guidance to the city during great times of need."

Christine stiffened in her seat, fingers gripping her glamour charm in her hands. She'd heard many speeches like this before while facing down bad guys, and it never boded well. Still, she quietly listened as he continued his speech.

"Some of our number, like the dear Wayne's, God rest their souls, did wonderful philanthropic work to aid our city. However, not all of us were content to fling money at the poor. Sure, we are all for helping others educate themselves and living more wholesome crime-free lives, but there are other obstacles in the path to a better Gotham. Obstacles that one, unfortunately, must deal with from the shadows. Thus, the Court of Owls was born."

"The Court of Owls?" Christine gulped as she heard and felt the shadowy figure in the cowl walk to stand behind her chair.

"Yes" her grandfather nodded solemnly as he came around the desk to lean against it before her. "For centuries our family has stood at the head of the Court, fighting for the liberation and bright future this city deserves. Our struggle has been labour long in the making, and we had almost lost hope, until you."

He looked at her with those piercing yellow eyes.

"When your father and godfather discovered you down in that Lab, I was overjoyed. Your father and your mother's marriage was all but disintegrated, and I was afraid I would never see our family legacy live on. But there you were. A new heir of our bloodline, and now look at you. A fearless hero, working alongside the Justice League. I am so proud of how far you've come."

He reached out to cup her cheek gently. With a soft grip, he pulled her face up so her shocked eyes could stare into his as he murmured.

"But you could go so much further, with the right training, from the right person."

He looked up at the masked man behind her chair.

"The man behind you is our family's Talon. He's our protector, our bodyguard and on occasion an  _errand runner_  of sorts. He and his men are some of the best warriors in the world; I'm sure you could learn a lot from their experience. Far more than what the Batman can currently offer you."

_If he works for you then why would he try to warn me to stay away from you? It doesn't make any sense._

Christine thought wildly, doing her best to keep a straight face as she turned to face the man behind her. Though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was somehow aware of what she was thinking, for when he spoke his voice was careful and measured.

"I would be honoured to teach the young Swift some new tricks. But I think it should be  **her decision**  if she wants my help or  **not**. I will not teach someone who is unwilling to learn of their own  **volition.** To do so would be a waste of my time."

"Of course." Her grandfather nodded courteously, yet Christine could see the slight anger flaring up in his yellow eyes as he turned back towards Christine expectantly.

Christine's fingers twisted in her lap as she squirmed under that piercing gaze. Now she knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of one of her stares.

She sucked in a deep breath and steeled herself. If she could handle staring down a super villain, then she could deal with her grandfather.

"Before I consider making any decision" she coughed straightening up to stand between the two men. "I would like to know  _who_  is teaching me. You've taken off my mask, and I trust you with it, but if you want me to trust you with my training you'll have to take yours off.  _Now_."

Her voice was finite as she stared both her Grandfather and the Talon down. Her heart was still a wild drum solo of fear inside her chest.

She had no weapons, no backup, save her small holo-watch, and she had no way to access it without arousing suspicion. She had nothing but her wits, yet she knew they would be no match against a mind as cunning as her Grandfather's or the brain of a man whose entire form screamed assassin. She was hopelessly, utterly alone.

The seconds dragged by as both Talon and Stuart Senior stared each other down, the latter finally settling on a silent and stern nod of approval.

"Very well then" the scrambled voice of the Talon sighed and reached up to his cowl.

Christine's breath caught in her throat, and her heart all but leapt out of her chest as a pale Caucasian neck and jaw slowly became visible, followed closely by a head of scruffy dark chocolaty brown hair. Warm dark brown eyes opened and looked down on her as their owner smiled sadly.

"Hello Christine"

"Papa?" Christine felt her legs buckle beneath her as she fell back down into the chair. This…this could not be happening.

"I shall give you two time to be reacquainted." She vaguely heard her Grandfather's smirk behind her back, though it sounded like it was coming from the end of a very long tunnel "Please, think on my offer. I will await your answer outside."

She barely heard his footsteps or the sound of his cane as he quietly left the room. She only had eyes for the brown-haired form of her father who carefully knelt down in front of her.

"Christine, are you-"

_KATHWACK!_

His cheek stung as the small sharp-nailed hand backhanded it.

When he turned back to look at his daughter, her raised hand shook and her eyes were full of tears.

"Four years" her voice was trembling worse than her hand "You were gone for four years! Not a word, not a message, nothing."

The flung her arms around his neck, almost knocking him backwards onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry Chrissy." he murmured, wrapping his arms around her tightly as she sobbed into his neck.

"I almost thought you were dead" she mumbled.

"So did I." he whispered into her white locks as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too papa." She hiccupped, leaning her forehead against his shoulder as he peppered the top of her head with affectionate kisses.

She wanted to be mad at him. She wanted nothing more than to strike and beat at him for leaving her behind like that for so many years. She could not bring herself to raise another hand to hit as the fear gripped strongly at her heart and cleared her head of the shock.

"You're a Talon." she gulped down hard on the lump in her throat as she finally pulled away to look him in the eye. His own eyes were bright and watery, but he kept his emotions in check as he nodded quietly.

"Yes. Though it was never a position, I ever asked for."

"Then why did you take it?" she murmured.

"Because I had no choice," he tore off his gloves and reached out to hold her face in his hands. "Finally, I can look at you without those stupid goggles in the way."

He leaned his forehead against hers, shutting his eyes as he savoured the feeling of her skin in his bare hands. It was still just as smooth as when she was a babe.

"You tried to stop me from coming" she whispered as he kissed her forehead.

"I was trying to protect you." He murmured into her crown, eyes narrowed on the doorway behind her back. "Your Grandfather is not someone to cross lightly. When he wants something, he won't take no for an answer, but should you say yes, the results would be worse."

"What can I do then?" Christine looked up at him anxiously.

"I do not know. But you cannot say yes." Her father said firmly "I did, and it was one of the worst decisions of my life. Once you're in the Court's clutches, they never let you go, and if you try to escape, they'll do whatever it takes to hunt you down. I know, I've tried."

Christine shut her mouth and bit her lip hard. Her heart was almost full to bursting, but she somehow managed to keep it all under control as she asked:

"Grandpa's the Grandmaster, isn't he? It was he who had Alderwood create me to be a weapon, right?"

"How did you-" her father's eyes widened.

"I remember seeing him there, outside my pod talking with a scientist." She cut across him quietly. "Ever since I came back from Cadmus I've been seeing things in my sleep and sometimes when I'm awake. I just thought they were just bad dreams, but they're memories, aren't they?"

Her father shut his mouth and merely nodded.

She sighed heavily as her holo-watch beeped. It was past one o'clock, Alfred would be coming to pick her up soon.

She turned back to her father and hugged him tight to her again.

"Even if I don't say yes, what about you? I can't leave you like this-"

"You must Chris" Stuart Junior gripped her shoulders hard "You have to."

"But I just found you again-"

"I know. But I can't let you do this."

There was a knock at the door.

"Miss Hallows" the voice of Agatha pierced the room like a knife. "A mister Pennyworth just called from Wayne Manor. He says he's to come to pick you up in half an hour. Your Grandfather would like to speak to you before that."

"O-of course, Agatha. I'll be right down" Christine called scrubbing her eyes quickly, grateful that the back of her chair obscured both her and her father from view as the door shut behind the housekeeper.

"I can't tell Bruce about this can I?" she murmured, and her father shook his head.

"No. If you did Father would kill him, Alfred, Dick and all your friends." He reached down to pick up his cowl from where it had fallen on the floor by his feet.

"You have a good team and a good life. You cannot throw it all away, especially not for your grandfather. He's not worth it"

He put the cowl over his head and stood up.

"But you are Papa." Christine got to her feet and held out his gloves, and he took them and put them on.

"I will be fine. I chose this path for myself years ago, but I never wanted it for you. You have so much good to give to the world." he stroked a black-gloved finger along her cheek. "Every time I watch you fight you look so strong. And your dancing, you've gotten so good."

He cupped her cheek again.

"Remember, you must refuse him. And if he tries anything I will protect you, orders or no orders."

"Don't worry I'll think of something to say." She nodded fervently. "And if that doesn't work I'll kick him in the nuts and run for the car."

"Smart girl" Her father chuckled, a real full smile breaking out over his face for the first time as he put the glamour charm in her lap back around her neck. At once her hair and eyes returned to their usual dark brown.

"I'll see you, soon won't I?" Christine grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. She wasn't quite ready to let him go, yet she knew she had to.

"Of course. Whatever the outcome, your grandfather will want me to keep an eye on you, so it won't be the last time we see each other" he took her hand in his and gave it one last kiss.

"I hope not" Christine reached forwards to hug him tight to her again "I love you, Papa."

"I love you too. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart." He gripped her tight in his arms, only letting go when he heard the door handle to the room start to turn again.

Swiftly, Christine let him go, quickly doing her best to tidy herself up as she strode across to Agatha, who was staring her father down with a suspicious glower as she shut the door behind the younger girl's back.

_Come on girl, pull yourself together. It's time to face the music._

Christine took a deep breath to steel herself as she walked over to the front atrium where her Grandfather awaited her, leaning on his cane, his brown contact lenses back in place over his eyes.

"So, have you thought over my proposal?" he asked as she stepped towards him.

"I have" she sighed squaring up her shoulders to look him in the eye. "But I still am not sure. There's just so much going on in my life now that I need to sort out first before I go on and make any big decisions like this. I would like more time to think about it."

"Of course, take all the time you need." Her Grandfather bobbed his head, though she could see from the look in his eye that he was not pleased with her at all. However, he could not say or do anything in front of Agatha without arousing suspicion. "But remember the offer will always stand, and you will always have a place here."

"Thank you grandpapa. That means a lot." Christine forced a small polite smile as he took her hands in his wrinkled ones and placed a gift box in it.

"Your birthday present." Her grandfather smiled "Though I would recommend not opening it in front of your godfather. I do not think he would approve, even though it is a  _family_  heirloom."

"Don't worry. I'll keep it safe" Christine bobbed her head dutifully, barely repressing a shiver as he leaned in to smirk in her ear.

"Good. It'll be our little secret then."

He leaned away, and Christine sighed in relief.

"Come, I'll walk you to the gate."

He opened the door, and Christine quickly chanced a glance back into the mansion. There at the top of the grand staircase in the next room, she could see a tall shadow in an owl mask.

It nodded once to her, and she nodded back, a small smile gracing her features as she let herself be escorted out of the manor.

The walk to the Manor gate was pleasant. Or at least it would appear that way to an average person. Christine's grandfather kept probing her with questions about her ballet rehearsals and school, all of which she answered truthfully and with as much enthusiasm as possible.

By the time they reached the gates, Alfred had arrived in the black Rolls Royce and was waiting for them. He smiled as he watched the girl wonder be hugged by her grandfather yet couldn't help but notice that she returned the embrace somewhat reluctantly.

Perhaps she was just embarrassed about hugging her grandfather in front of him; he reasoned as she hopped into the back seat of the car, large present in hand.

"Hey, Alfred. Thanks for picking me up."

"Any time miss. And how did you enjoy your brunch?"

"Immensely. It was…fun. Lots of fun." Christine smiled strapping herself in, but her eyes were quick to fall sadly as she quickly turned back in her seat to watch the manor house slowly zoom away from sight through the rear window.

"I'll see you soon Papa, I promise" she mouthed softly under her breath.

Alfred's smile softened sympathetically at his young charge as she turned back in her seat.

"That's a large present you have young Miss."

"Yes, it seems everyone's out to spoil me this year" Christine rolled her eyes as she quickly made to chance a peek inside. Her Grandfather said not to open it in front of Bruce, but he never said anything about Alfred.

She quickly pulled open the lid of the box and found to her surprise, a magnificent set of diamond earrings and a diamond

choker set in platinum gold seated on a velvet board.

_It's beautiful. But no wait that can't be it. Why would Bruce object to me getting jewellery? He has already given me tons of it before?_

She tapped on the velvet and smirked when she strained her ears. It was hollow, and there was something underneath.

Carefully, so as not to upset the jewels she carefully lifted the velvet board and peeked underneath.

"Is everything alright Miss Christine? You're very quiet" Alfred frowned as he checked on the young girl through his rearview mirror.

Her face looked slightly pale as she quickly shut the box.

"It's alright." She gulped "But maybe we should put this in the vault when we get home. I don't think it'd be good to let a ten-million-dollar necklace lie around my bedroom if you know what I mean."

"Ah, yes I do see what you mean." Alfred coughed. No wonder the poor girl looked so nervous. Carrying expensive jewellery in a car in the middle of Gotham without much protection was not safe at all. "Very well then, I shall see that it gets placed in the vault at once upon our return."

"Yes, thank you Alfred" Christine sighed in relief as the butler turned his attention back onto the road. She quickly looked under the velvet board again, gulping as she caught sight of the plain white owl mask hidden beneath the mass of blue.

_What on earth have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

_**Mount Justice, October 31 2010, 20:10 EDT** _

Christine smiled as she pulled on her mask over her face becoming Swift. She looked down at the photograph on the holo-screen of her birthday dinner. She was standing in the centre with Dick hugging her from behind helping her cut the cake, along with her best friends, Barbara, Freddy, Martin and George. All their parents stood along the edges with Bruce and Alfred all laughing and smiling.

There should've been one man with her there too, but he was holed up in her grandfather's estate behind a black cowl.

_Oh, Papa. I can't believe you're here after all this time._

She sighed heavily as someone knocked on her door.

"Swift. Red Arrow has arrived. The meeting's about to start" the metallic voice of Red Tornado came through the door.

"I'll be right there Tornado!" she called hopping on her feet as she pulled on her boot, the last of the ensemble. After the meeting she, Batman and Robin were all going out for patrol in Gotham. Red Arrow and Aqualad were coming too as was Wolf under the excuse that the other two guys were getting special training from Batman and that the canine was needed to sniff out clues.

Batman had begrudgingly agreed. It was her birthday after all. And, he wanted to get a proper look at Kaldur in the field. Ever since she had opened the Atlantean's birthday present, her godfather had been very suspicious of the younger man's intentions.

_Honestly that man. God, Kal I do hope you survive tonight._

She shook her head, giggling slightly as she fiddled with the silver bracelet and tucked it safely in a drawer on her desk. She didn't want to lose it tonight on patrol.

As she exited her bedroom, she spotted Red Tornado at the end of the hall talking to a tall young man in black and red with auburn hair and a red domino mask.

"Roy!" she called. Red Arrow looked up as a mass of purple and black ran up and flung her arms around his chest.

"Hey, Chris. Happy birthday!" He muttered hesitantly wrapping his arms around her for a moment before letting go.

Christine looked up at him, and her smile faltered. He was looking remarkably grave.

"Roy what's wrong?" she asked

"I'll tell you when we get to the meeting" Red Arrow put a steady hand on her shoulder and began steering her down the corridor in the direction of Black Canary's counselling room. Red Tornado followed silently.

They walked through the automatic doors. Both her partners and Aqualad were already there; Robin seated in one of the green chairs while Batman stood resolute opposite the two boys.

"Hey, Kaldur!" She smiled warmly at Kaldur as she rushed up to greet him.

"Hello, Swift. I take it you enjoyed your birthday?"

"I have. And thank you for the bracelet, it's wonderful."

"I'm so glad you liked it" Kaldur smiled, blushing slightly pink as The Boy Wonder sniggered slyly behind his back.

"Liked it? She wouldn't take it off all day."

"She wouldn't? Now I have to see it." Roy smirked only to be elbowed hard in the ribs by Swift as she passed him by.

"Ignore them Kal, they're just jealous." she rolled her eyes as she made to sit down beside her partner on the armchair.

Once she was settled and Red Tornado had come in close, Batman narrowed his eyes at the room and barked:

"Computer secure the room".

There was a click as the doors and windows clicked locked.

**_Secured_ **

The computerised voice announced.

"I'll cut right to it" Batman turned to look at them all. "Do we believe there is a mole on the team?"

Aqualad stepped forwards frowning hard "I am convinced there is none. When Sportsmaster claimed he had an inside source, he was merely sewing dissent."

Robin snorted with amusement as he sank back into his chair a lazy smile gracing his features.

"His  **intel**  could easily have come from comparing the other villains working for the Injustice League" he put both his hands in quotation marks before slinging an arm around Swift's waist.

"And think about it. If anyone on the team was working with those creepoid's-"

"He or she would've betrayed us during our fight against them." Aqualad finished nodding.

"I'm not convinced" Red Arrow shook his head gesticulating towards his three fellow sidekicks "sure you three and Kid Flash are above suspicion. But I know Artemis isn't shooting straight. For starters, she's not Green Arrows niece."

"What?!" Aqualad exclaimed in shock.

"Well yeah." Robin shrugged nonchalantly "in fact she's related to-" but he stopped quickly as Swift narrowed her eyes dangerously.

She turned her attention to Red Arrow.

"So you're standing up for her?" Red Arrow growled.

"So what if I am" Swift jumped to her feet "She can't help if she's related to those kinds of people. But it still gives none of us the right to judge her loyalty as a teammate and…as a friend. Don't misunderstand me, Roy." She added as Red Arrow opened his mouth to interrupt "You're my friend too but you barely even know Artemis. So don't you dare think that you have any right to-"

"Enough," Batman said firmly putting a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. Swift looked up at him and saw that his face was tense but not angry.

"Artemis's relations may indeed make her suspect. But she is still entitled to a secret identity. However, I am more concerned about Superboy. We still know very little about what Cadmus programmed into their  **weapon**. I'm not saying he would want to betray you all. Conner could very well be the mole and not know it" Batman nodded as he saw Swift go livid.

Robin and Aqualad both saw the opportunity and pulled her back holding her shoulders firmly. It was common knowledge to everyone in the Team that Swift never liked it when Conner was referred to as a weapon or less than human especially since the two of them were close like brother and sister.

Batman fixed his protégé with a stern look, and she backed down.

"What about Miss Martian?" Red Arrow came forth again scowling "She is Manhunter's niece. But he told Black Canary that he has a few hundred nieces and nephews. And the first time he met M'gann was five months ago when he stowed away on his last trip from Mars to Earth!"

"This changes nothing" Aqualad frowned as he folded his arms "I have fought side to side with these people.  **None**  are traitors."

"That takes us back to square one" Swift sighed exchanging a look with Robin who was still holding onto her shoulder.

"This new mole intel…" She looked back at Red Arrow. "Where did it come from?"

Red Arrow shifted uncomfortably.

"An old friend of yours" he gave a meaningful look at Swift whose eyes widened slowly before she gasped.

"Oh god no!" she breathed clapping a hand over her mouth. "Not her!"

"Her…her as in …Red Queen?" Robin and Aqualad exchanged quick glances.

"Through her henchman…that Ishan guy or whatever" Red Arrow bristled uncomfortably as he felt Batman's glare hit him sidelong.

"Ishan Shahzad is supposed to be dead" He growled.

"Well, he's very much alive and kicking when I met with him. Isn't that right Swift?" Red Arrow looked down at Swift who buried her face in Robin's shoulder.

Batman followed Red Arrows gaze and narrowed his eyes

"You knew?" he asked Swift.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to believe it." She shut her eyes, face falling into her hands as images of a smiling dark-haired boy flashed across her mind.

"It was this Ishan Shahzad who attacked you at Yellowstone wasn't it?" Red Tornado asked robotically, and she nodded silently.

"I'm sorry, but who is this Ishan? And what connection does he have to Red Queen." Aqualad frowned at Batman.

"Ishan Shahzad is one of Christine's oldest childhood friends. That was until two years ago when he turned sides to fight for Red Queen." The Dark Knight explained with a heavy sigh. "We thought he had died in a fight with her two years ago. Only now it would appear that we were wrong."

"Wrong is an understatement." Christine grunted as she surfaced from her hands "He's now one of her Red Knights."

"That would explain the getup I saw him in" Red Arrow folded his arms. "Though how he got to that position in such a short space of time-"

"Brainwashing?" Robin suggested.

"Perhaps. Or maybe Cadmus's projects stretch out further than just cloning." Aqualad muttered thoughtfully "I mean look at Superboy. He's technically only three months old, yet he already can fight like a proper warrior."

"That's true" Robin shrugged. Swift, however, stayed silent.

_What if Alderwood did something like that to me when Grandpapa commissioned my creation? Is that why I took to crime fighting so fast? Because I was_ _**programmed** _ _to do it?_

She hadn't yet told Robin nor Kaldur about her being a genomorph, and she wasn't sure if Roy had told anyone else either. Batman obviously knew but wouldn't have told everyone else, and Red Tornado only knew because he was on the league.

"Something worries you Swift?" the Android suddenly asked and she almost jumped out of her skin.

"What? No-no. I'm just thinking about the whole Cadmus thing." She chewed on her knuckle nervously "I wouldn't put it past my mother to invest in something like Desmond's research. If Ishan was dead, where would they get the technology necessary to bring him back to life?"

"Yeah, you're right that does seem more like a Ra's Al Ghul thing huh?" Robin frowned. "But then that would mean-"

"Ra's Al Ghul and your mother are working together somehow." Red Arrow finished grimly.

"Yeah, but that's weird in its own right" Swift frowned. "The only other villain my mom has worked with willingly has been Luthor, and that's only because they are on and off sleeping together."

"Ugh! Thanks for sharing that nice image" Robin bristled with disgust, along with everyone else in the room.

"Sorry" Swift shrugged apologetically.

"This information changes nothing" Batman clipped folding his arms "The fact remains that there is still a mole on the team and our enemies are aware of it. We need to get to the bottom of this quickly before they try to act out again. So far the Injustice League appears to be neutralised, but if recent events are anything to go by there must be more going on behind the scenes we are not aware of"

"What are we to do then? The last time we tried hiding this knowledge from the team, it nearly broke apart" Aqualad frowned, and Swift sighed.

"Yeah, but we also can't tip off the mole that we might know more now about who they might work for."

"Maybe we should just tell them the truth" Robin shrugged nonchalantly, "We tell them that the mole situation is still being investigated, but we have no real solid intel."

"I hate to say it, but I think Boy Wonder's right" Red Arrow put his hands on his hips.

"Then it's settled. I will give the team a report at the next mission." Batman nodded firmly, and they all stood to their feet.

"Well, now that's settled what now? Do we all go on patrol?" Robin clapped his gloved hands together excitedly.

"We do" Batman nodded. "Computer disable room security."

"Isn't all this a bit much for one patrol?" Swift frowned as the windows and door unlocked and they stepped out of the room.

"My, my someone's getting territorial" Red Arrow smirked in amusement.

"I've received intel that the Penguin is planning a massive raid on a ship carrying illegal weapons for Thorne Enterprises tonight. All military grade firearms with some biochemical weapons as well." Batman grunted "Normally the Robin, Swift and I could manage Penguin, but I do not risk letting any of those weapons getting out onto the streets. Which is why you and Aqualad are coming along."

"It would be an honour to aid you sir" Aqualad bobbed his head ignoring Red Arrow rolling his eyes and Robin's mutter of "Suck up."

"Good." Batman nodded as he led them out into the Cave's main Zeta-tube. "The plan is simple. Aqualad, Red Arrow, it'll be your job to scope out and secure the weapons hold. When you're there run an itinerary and make sure none of the weapons has been stolen. Swift, Robin, you will infiltrate the ship's computer and download whatever information you can find on Thorne's business activities and then send it to GCPD. I will lure Penguin out into the open, keep him distracted."

"Got it. Anything else you want us to look out for?" Robin smirked, glancing sidelong at Red Arrow and Aqualad.

"Yes." Batman's jaw stiffened, and his eyes narrowed on the archer and the Atlantean "I've heard Penguin's enlisted Killer Croc to help him secure the weapons. As you two know he's not an opponent to be taken lightly so keep your guard up and your wits about you-"

"And avoid his tail" Swift added helpfully as she punched in Gotham's coordinates for the Zeta tube. "Trust me, it's not fun having it swing into you."

"But apart from that just relax and have fun and try to avoid turning into chow for the cannibalistic crocodile man." Robin sniggered as both his friend's faces paled dramatically.

Gotham's rogues indeed were some of the worst in the world.

"Killer Croc surely can't be that bad…can he?" Aqualad whispered to Red Arrow as they readied themselves by the Zeta Tube.

"Oh, he is" the redhead hissed sourly "But hey, this is what you get when you start making moves on the Bat's girl."

Aqualad gulped. He hadn't thought about it like that.

_Oh, Neptune what have I gotten myself into?_

He almost leapt out of his skin when he felt Swift put a gentle hand on his tattooed arm.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. It's just another mission."

"Right. Another mission" Aqualad sighed

"I will remain at the cave till the rest of the team return. Good luck." Red Arrow nodded stiffly at all of them as a computerised voice suddenly announced.

**_Recognized Batman O2. Robin B01, Swift B02, Aqualad B03, Red Arrow B07_ **

There was a flash of whirring yellow light, and suddenly all five heroes vanished leaving the red android standing alone in the cave hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it Episode 18 is up and running, and the mysteries are just getting started.
> 
> So Christine has finally gotten involved with the Court of Owls and (surprise surprise) her grandfather's the Grandmaster and her father is a Talon! If you squint hard you'll see some other characters from the DCAnimatedMovieVerse snuck in there too (mainly because I'm using the Batman Vs Robin movie as one of my bases for the YJ version of the Court of Owls).
> 
> Anyways Christine's father has returned and is trying to protect her from her grandfather, but has she thrown the Grandmaster off the scent? Or will he seize the chance to snatch this little bird for himself? At this point she's just playing along to see if she can figure out what's going on, but how long will it be till she's entangled in the web for good?
> 
> If you want to find the answers out stay tuned and keep Reading and Reviewing for more ;)
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	19. Misplaced

_**Mount Justice, November 5 2010, 19:35 EDT** _

Batman strode into the common room of the mountain looking grim.

It was reasonably quiet with only four members of the team present.

Batman now looked away from them looking for the sight of the blonde archer. As per his instructions, Artemis should've been at the cave. But then he remembered she and Green Arrow had had to go quickly to catch a criminal on the way here, so logically she must've been in the showers.

M'gann and Conner were out collecting cave supplies, so their absence was not so alarming.

Kaldur and Christine were sitting in the lounge next to one another and quietly reading aloud from a play. It was Shakespeare's Hamlet, both his protégé's new text in English. Christine had just been complaining about it this morning. Well, she wasn't complaining about it now, but maybe that was because of how she had sidled up close to her study partner.

"Where wilt thou lead me? Speak; I'll go no further" she spoke hamlet's lines, trying to deepen her tones to sound like a man's voice.

"Mark me" Kaldur smirked as he rumbled.

"I will."

"My hour is almost come, when to sulphurous and tormenting flames, must render up myself."

"Alas poor ghost."

"Alas poor ghost indeed" Kaldur snorted, and Christine shook her head fondly with a giggle as she turned the page.

Behind the lenses of his cowl, Batman scowled grumpily. It wasn't like he wasn't happy for the two of them. He cared for Christine like a daughter, and Kaldur had proven himself a decent match, but still, he thought he'd get a good few more years of getting to be a dad before his goddaughter started dating.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Dick's voice spoke clearly.

"Explain in your own words Darwin's theory of the origin of the species?"

"Darwin's theory of the origin of the species is that natural selection chooses organisms that possess variable and heritable traits that are best suited for their environments." Wally droned in boredom.

Batman looked towards the kitchen island. Wally was sitting at the kitchen counter with an open exercise book in front of him and a large biology textbook to his side which Dick was reading out questions from and testing him.

Batman cleared his throat loudly, and the four teens looked up.

"Batman" Dick and Wally both stood up.

"Oh, hey dad! How was Gotham?" Christine chimed happily as she and Kaldur looked up from their plays.

"Same as always" the corners of Batman's mouth twitched downwards, and he nodded once towards his partners in acknowledgement. Both their expressions faltered for a moment as they looked him over. If he was this moody, then one of his cases must not have been going so well.

"Superboy and Miss Martian will be back soon with the supplies for the cave. They will need your help to unpack."

"Sure thing. So, off to the hanger then?" Wally grinned.

Batman nodded.

"Sweet! Race you there?" he grinned at Dick who rolled his eyes behind his shades.

"What's the point? You'll super-speed there anyway."

"Uh huh! You're just saying that because you wanna spy on those two" Wally whispered in the Boy Wonder's ear.

"You guys do know I have super hearing, right?" Christine snorted folding her arms.

"Please don't tell me it's that time of the month" he muttered under his breath, but she heard it all the same.

"Time of month or not, it certainly won't stop me from putting your arm back in that sling."

Wally opened his mouth to retort but seeing the dangerous bordering on deathly glare she was giving him shut it and swallowed. Super speed or not he had no doubt she would indeed be able to break more than just his arm if he pissed her off.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

Batman and Kaldur both sighed, the latter fondly smiling at the girl wonder as they began to make their way towards the hanger.

Soon they came through the doors and were greeted by Zatara and Red Tornado.

"Batman it is good to see you" the magician shook Batman's hand before turning to Christine.

"I'm glad to see you have fully recovered Swift."

"Thank you Zatara, and also thank you for helping heal me" Christine smiled and reached out to shake his hand only for there to be a zap.

"Ow," they both pulled back their hands. Zatara's hand was smoking slightly as a hole in the palm of his glove burned, but Christine's palm was blemish free.

She opened her mouth to apologise, but the older man just smiled kindly down at her.

"Forgive me. It must be the residue of magical energy from my last spell."

"Really because it felt much more intense…more like a zap if any…thing…." She trailed off her expression becoming strangely misted over and vacant. She shook her head.

"Argh! Sorry! I'm the magic novice, and I shouldn't be assuming anything but thanks for all your help."

"It's alright" The older magician observed as her yellow eyes glinted strangely. But the moment passed, and there was a rushing sound as the bio-ship descended into land.

_Hiya guys!_

M'gann called telepathically to the team.

_Hey Miss M._

Christine and Dick called together.

_Hey gorgeous! Miss me?_

Wally grinned. Kaldur rolled his eyes in exasperation before replying.

_Welcome back M'gann, Conner. I trust your journey was safe._

_Yeah, boring, nothing much happened._

Conner said as he came out of the shadows of the ship holding two large wooden crates, one in each arm. His hair and clothes were ruffled as were M'gann's, which were a blue variation of her civilian ensemble. Both their sets of cheeks were flushed slightly too.

"Pff! 'Nothing happened'. As if!" Dick snorted under his breath.

"Dick, you know the rules" Christine elbowed him in the ribs gently as M'gann stepped out using her telekinesis to hover two large cardboard boxes in the air behind her.

"Yeah! Yeah! What goes on in the Bio-ship, stays in the Bioship" Dick smirked looping an arm around her waist as he leaned into his partner's ear "Come to think of it you and Kaldur could use some quiet time toge-"

But Dick was forced to stop there when Christine stomped hard on his toes as Batman stepped over to the Bioship.

Rule #2 on the team, never joke with Swift about guys in front of the Batman. You will get ferociously Bat-glared down. But thankfully Dick's comment went unnoticed. For once.

"Did you get everything?" Batman asked M'gann stiffly.

"Everything on your list Batman. Plus, groceries" she smiled at Wally and Christine who both gave sighs of relief. The cave's pantry had been running low for a few days now, and the teams two biggest eaters had often had to hold back on their appetites until they reached home.

"Cookie fixes?" Wally now zipped over to an open box full of food.

"Snickerdoodles" M'gann nodded.

"Babe you rock my world," he said dreamily as he began fishing in the groceries for a snack. "Hey, Swift! Catch!" he chucked the girl wonder a crinkling packet which she caught deftly.

"Thanks, Wall-man!" Christine grinned unwrapping it and took a bite. "Mmnh! Thank god" she moaned as the chocolate, and nutty goodness filled her mouth.

"Nice little foodgasm there huh?" Dick smirked before swiping the food bar from his partner's hands.

"Hey!" she growled chasing after him as he went behind some more stacked up crates, just as Zatanna and Artemis came through the automatic door to the hanger.

"Glad you're back Zatan-WHOA!"

The blonde archer quickly pulled the young magician back as the two birds darted in front of them.

"Sorry Arty! Zee!" Christine called back before glaring at Dick "Wonder Boy get back here right now!"

Dick flipped over Kaldur and Conner's heads blowing a raspberry back at her mid-flip.

"Oh yes because that's real mature" she grumbled as she followed his trajectory.

Both the super-clone and the Atlantean caught each other's eyes and shook their heads in fond amusement.

Batman sighed before turning to Zatara who gave him a small reassuring smile before casting a spell to levitate some of the crates Conner and Kaldur had just taken off the ship.

"Ha! gotcha!" Christine cried out as she lunged at her partner, grabbing him around the waist and tackling him into the floor. They thudded to the floor just as several things crashed down.

They both looked up in fear that they'd hit something, only to gasp as Batman, Red Tornado and Zatara were engulfed by a yellow light.

"DAD!" Zatanna and Christine both cried loudly in unison.

But too late, the grownups had disappeared.

Christine and Dick both scrambled to their feet, the latter holding his partner back as she baulked to rush forwards.

She turned back to glare at him but paused as she saw him pull up the cave's holo-computer.

After a couple of moments, the computerised voice announced at large.

**_Beginning Search: Batman 0-2, Zatara 1-1, Red Tornado 1-6._ **

"Wait for it" Dick raised an eyebrow at his partner's panic-stricken face as the loading bar quickly filled up. There was a swirling circle for a moment as the results loaded before red text flashed across the screen. The computer spoke again from the cave speakers.

**_Search Results: Negative. System Error._ **

"Try again" Christine grabbed Dick's arm. "Change the parameters."

"I did a full scan Swift, but there are no other life signs in the cave asides from the team and Zatanna" Dick looked at her desperate face, and his eyes softened "I'm sorry."

"So that means…" she breathed.

"It means we are on our own. For now" Kaldur stepped forwards to them both. Behind them the team was assembled, Wally and Conner standing alert as if ready for a fight, M'gann in a telepathic trance as she tried to trace down other life forms and Artemis trying to console a hyperventilating Zatanna.

Christine spared the girl a look of sympathy before turning back to Kaldur who nodded gravely. She took a deep breath.

"OK guys! Suit up!"

* * *

"Swift!"

Swift looked up from her holo-computer next to Robin as Aqualad strode into the cave's main hall.

"Strategy meeting?" She asked. He nodded.

She looked back at Robin who gave her the thumbs up.

"I'll keep manning the coms."

"I-I can help!" Zatanna squeaked.

"Ok" Swift nodded smiling at Zatanna. She'd been on the sidelines as the boy and girl wonder both instructed her on how to use the holo-computer. Thankfully she was a fast learner, so Swift felt sure about letting her man the coms.

Swift exchanged a quick fist bump with Robin before following Aqualad back to the main common room.

"How're things looking out there?" he asked as they sat down side by side at the island counter in the kitchen.

"Not good" Swift sighed. "Batman and the other leaguers are all missing and if the kid's reports from the internet are anything to go by every single person over the age of 18 in the world is missing too."

"Have you tried contacting Red Arrow?" Aqualad raised an eyebrow. Swift nodded.

"I did but he already had his eighteenth birthday in late July so I don't think he's reachable."

"What is the rest of the team doing at the moment?"

"Kid Flash, Artemis, Superboy and Miss Martian are currently trying to help their high school friends set up makeshift relief centres for all the kids in Happy Harbour."

"And the other cities?" Aqualad asked quickly.

"I've managed to contact some of my friends from Gotham, and they're trying to help but as for Metropolis and the other cities…we don't know yet. You haven't heard anything from Atlantis?"

"I've tried contacting my friends Garth and Tula at the Conservatory, and they've even tried contacting the royal palace. But we've only been getting static."

Aqualad sighed before slamming his fist down on the countertop.

"This is absolute bullshit! We still don't have a clue of what is going on!" he cursed under his breath.

Swift raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

"What?" he scowled up at her.

"Nothing…I've just never heard you swear before," she said calmly, though inwardly she was freaking out. Usually, it was the opposite way around, she'd be swearing, and he'd be the calm one.

"Because you've never seen me stressed before" he snorted. His eyes turned downcast. "I just hope it won't all fall to pieces like that failsafe simulation."

Swift's posture relaxed as she reached out to grip her friend's hand. He looked up as she looked him straight in the eye before saying in a sure steady voice.

"It won't trust me."

"That's what you said in the simulation before you-"

"Yeah well, that was a simulated me. Not the real me." Christine rolled her eyes as she squeezed her hand tight in his "And the real me knows we'll set this right if we keep together."

Aqualad looked up at the girl wonder in awe. The world was in jeopardy, and the Justice League was gone, and yet she still had hope that they would win.

"We can do this Kal" she murmured.

Despite himself Aqualad couldn't help but smile as he gripped her hand in return, entwining their fingers.

"You're right. We can. We have to."

He leaned away, his chest warming as he saw the silver bangle with shells twinkle on her wrist in the artificial light even as she carefully prized herself out of his grip.

"So now el Capitano! What is our plan of action?" Swift coughed as she assumed what she hoped was a professional tone of voice, though her cheeks were dusted pink.

"Since the team is already starting to set up shelters, maybe we could spread the word to the other teens and kids around the world to help with the efforts." Aqualad straightened up, using the new-found confidence to spur him into thinking.

"A televised announcement" Swift nodded in agreement.

"Televised, live stream the works. We need to be able to reach as many signals as we can if that's possible."

"It should be if Robin and I can get our hands on some league resources!" Swift rubbed her palms together.

"And can you?" Aqualad asked hopefully.

"Pff! Of course! We could do it eyes shut, hands bound and hanging over a precipice of death if you wanted. Total kids' stuff! What's going to be harder is wording the actual speech itself and making sure we have access to the watchtower's generator."

"Why would we need the Watchtower's generator?"

"Because at the cave we only have enough processing power at the cave to stream only to most of North and South America. The Watchtower, however, has more than enough juice to power ten Mount Justices. No doubt Dad and the league didn't factor in that one day we, the team, might need to use those resources in a crisis like this."

She looked back at Aqualad who was staring at her blankly

"Not that I doubt what you're telling me is true, but how do you know all this?"

"I might have… borrowed some of the Watchtower's blueprints from the Bat Computer…" she shrugged sheepishly.

"Borrowed?" Aqualad arched a brow.

"Yeah…y'know for  _light reading_ "

"I see."

Swift bristled as Aqualad's eyebrow went even higher.

"OK! OK! Robin and I might have hacked into the League database after Independence Day! Ya happy now Kal?!" Swift blushed with embarrassment as Aqualad smirked. He grabbed Wally's exercise book, which was still lying around with his school homework on the counter.

"So…what do we write?"

So as Robin hurried into the common room in a rush of excitement, it was to find Swift and Aqualad leaning over a piece of paper and talking in hushed whispers.

_For Pete's sake!_

The Boy Wonder couldn't help but roll his eyes as he caught sight of how close the two had sidled next to one another.

"Let Kid Flash say this bit" Swift pointed to a point on the page.

"If he can keep a poker face." Aqualad snorted.

"Y'know Kal, you'd be amazed at how good he is at card games."

"Really? I always thought he'd be good at more physical games? Like that spinner or what's, it called uh…"

"Twister?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Yeah, no, it's not so much a Wally game as much as it is Robin's-"

Robin cleared his throat loudly, and the pair looked up.

Swift turned around on her bar stool to face him. "Hey, Wonder Boy! You got something?"

Robin bristled as he tried to settle the beast in his belly down. Now was not the time for jealousy, but that didn't stop the words tumbling out of him in a rush.

"Zatanna'smadeadiscoverythatwhateveriscausingallthisismagicandifitisthenshemightbeabletolocatethesourceusingherdad'sspell."

"What?" Aqualad tilted his head to the side in confusion, but Swift just stood up and walked over to her partner.

"He said that apparently, the reason why the adults are missing is because of a magic spell and that Zatanna is our best bet at finding its source using the same spell her dad used to locate the Injustice League. But apart from that what's wrong?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Nothing…" he sighed heavily "just hoping this doesn't turn out like the simulation."

"Ok! One of these days I need to see what happened in that exercise because you guys-"

"NO!" Aqualad and Robin both cried out at the same time. Swift looked very surprised. Both boys were looking very, very worried and terrified.

"Ok…then no…" she backed off before quickly grabbing the paper. "Rob, where is Zatanna?"

"She's still in the main hall" Robin heaved a massive sigh of relief at the change in topic.

"I'll take her to the training room to practice her spell work," Aqualad said before turning back to Swift. "In the meanwhile, I need you two to contact the rest of the team. Tell them to rendezvous back here ASAP. After that, you must hack Justice League systems and get us access to the Watchtower's generator so that we may access more processing power and their live translation software."

"Wow! Can we even do that? Won't Bats be pissed?" Robin looked a bit worried.

"You bet your arse we can wonder boy! If we can hack the deepest depths of the Batcave's computer, then we can surely get past the Justice League. And besides, this is an emergency" Swift smirked mischievously.

"Damn! Girl wonder you are sneaky" Robin grinned as he winked flirtatiously at his partner.

"What can I say. Sneaky is my middle name" Swift giggled shook her head fondly, not noticing Aqualad's envious scowl behind her back.

**Bringgg! Buzzzz! Brinnng! Buzzzz!**

"Swift are you alright?" Aqualad asked as Swift jumped right off her feet.

"Just a moment" Swift squeaked as she grabbed at one of the back pockets of her utility belt.

She quickly pulled out her Wayne Tech phone and saw spread across the screen the photo ID of a girl with curly blonde hair. She immediately tapped the answer button.

"Hey, Freddy! How are you doing?" Swift said calmly only to wince as her best friend's voice blasted right into her ear from the cell phone.

" _HOW AM I DOING? MY MUM AND DAD BOTH JUST VANISHED INTO THIN AIR, ALL THE KIDS IN GOTHAM ARE RUNNING WILD AND I AM UP TO MY KNEES IN DIRTY DIAPERS AND BABY FORMULA HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL!"_

"Ok! Ok! Calm down! Tell me exactly what's happening" Swift scowled as she wrung out her ear with a finger.

" _One moment we were all watching TV together and then there was this bright light and Mum and Dad were both not there. I just…_ "

"Panicked?" Swift nodded.

" _Yeah_ … _Sorry!_ " Freddy gulped on her end though she still sounded rather distraught. " _What about you? Are Bruce and Alfred gone too?_ "

Robin narrowed his eyes in concern as he saw his partners face harden slightly.

"Pretty much yeah. But it seems like everyone over the age of eighteen has vanished."

" _The Justice League too?_ "

"Yes! But enough about us, have you heard anything from Barbra, George or Martin?"

" _I called them just before I called you._ " Freddy sniffed " _they're trying to set up a refugee shelter in the Gym for all the kids in the area._ "

"Ok Good." Swift sighed in relief, looking over at Robin who was using his hands to tell her something in sign language.

_Ask her to help with the hacking from the Batcave so you and Aqualad can finish making the speech faster_

Swift nodded. It was a good idea. Though it would seem very strange beneath the preppy fashionable girl façade, Swift and Robin both knew that Freddy was an excellent hacker, probably better than themselves. The only thing that stopped her from doing it on a regular basis was that she didn't have the tech available to her on a daily basis. Which was probably a good thing as Freddy, like Christine, had an unusual knack for getting herself into trouble.

She could hear Freddy gently shushing her crying baby sister.

"Freddy, I know you're scared, but I need your help."

" _What do you need me to do_?"

Swift sighed in relief and gave Robin the thumbs up before signing back with one hand.

_Hack Batmobile systems and send commands to it to auto drive to Freddy's place to pick her up._

She turned her attention back to the phone and said in a soft voice so that Aqualad and Robin could not hear her.

"Ok…Listen very carefully to my instructions ok, because I'm not going to be able to repeat myself. I need you to pack up all your supplies for yourself and Emily and wait outside your house. Robin's going to program the Bat-mobile to pick you up remotely. Don't bother driving, get into the back seat and it will take you to the Batcave. Once you get there, both of you go down to the Bat-computer and hack into the system. Once you're in there will be a screen that asks you to log in so type in the username Iota. You should then have access to all Bat-cave and Justice League systems. Once you're in Rob will join you in the hacking."

" _So is iota in caps, lower case or something_?" Freddy asked.

"The I is uppercase, but the other letters are lower case. It's also going to be your code name when you and Robin work so no calling us by our civilian ID's" Swift nodded.

" _Gotcha! Iota equals codename and call Dickie-bird Robin and call you Swift. Ok, I'll get ready. Oh and Chris?_ "

"Yeah?"

" _Good luck_."

"You too. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine."

Swift turned off the phone and looked up towards Aqualad and Robin, the latter of whom nodding.

"The batmobile's on its way. I'll go to the control room."

Aqualad nodded standing up "I'll go check on Zatanna's progress. Swift, Robin contact the team. Also, see if you can contact as many other people you know and spread the word to make more shelters. Once you've done that can you finish the speech and type it up on the cave systems."

"On it Kal!"

Robin grabbed Swift's hand, and they both made their way down the corridor.

Once they were out of sight of Aqualad and the common room, Robin dragged Swift around a corner and hugged her tight.

"Dick this isn't the time to be hugging. We got work to do" she grumbled as she patted his back awkwardly.

"I know." He frowned anxiously as he pulled away "But just in case this doesn't go well-"

"Jesus Christ! How many times do I have to repeat myself to everyone?" Swift rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulders shaking them slightly. "We can make it through this! We  **will**  make it through this! League or no League! You got it!"

Robin looked at her determined face and sighed.

"I got it."

"Good! Now get traught Wonder Boy!" she nudged his shoulder firmly. "We got a world to save"

* * *

"Have you got everything set up?"

Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin were now standing in the main hall in front of a holographic communications screen.

"Yep," Swift nodded before smirking. "You boys ready for your big debut?"

"You bet gorgeous. How do I look? Dashing? Handsome? Say, I look better than Boy Wonder? Come on don't be shy you can say it if you want!" KF winked at her only to receive a fierce bat-glare from Robin.

Swift chuckled and shook her head. "Cut it out you two. Iota and I are going to open up the link in ten, nine, eight."

Robin and Kid Flash immediately turned and forced a sombre expression onto their faces.

"Five, four, three, two, one" She mouthed the last two numbers before hitting the command for go.

Soon she could see their faces on a screen beside her.

Aqualad spoke first "Attention children and teenagers of Earth; I am Aqualad. These are my friends, Robin and Kid Flash."

Swift nodded, and Robin spoke up.

"We're using Justice League tech to cast and stream to every TV, radio, computer and smartphone on the planet."

"We know you must be scared, and angry. We know without your parents there's a temptation to run wild. But please stay calm."

Swift had to admit she was impressed by how serious Kid was right now. She pointed to Aqualad, and he began his turn again.

"We  _will_  find a way to bring the adults back. But for now, the oldest among you must step up."

"Take care of your younger siblings," Robin added, "Take care of kids who have no one."

"Protect them," Kid Flash said and as he did Swift typed in another set of commands which then proceeded to translate those two words into every available human language on the JL systems.

"It is up to you to help in any way you can. So, stay calm and keep safe." Aqualad concluded. He nodded to Swift who pressed the off button.

" _Not bad_ " Came Freddy/Iota's voice from her com.

"The signals got across?" Swift asked quietly.

" _Yeah, most people should've gotten the message by now_."

"Good Iota, thanks for all your help. But I think you should go back to your home, just in case the adults return any time soon. It'll be the first place your parents would look."

" _Yeah! You're right, besides I'm starting to run low on formula for Emily_ ,  _and she might need a diaper change too_ " Freddy said sounding rather tired.

"Don't worry; we'll bring them back soon. I promise" Swift muttered. " The holo-screen in front of her blipped off, and she sighed.

"Freddy's going home?"

Swift looked up and saw Robin walking towards her. Kid Flash and Aqualad were both gone.

She nodded, and he sighed tiredly.

"Man…and I thought 2012 was supposed to be the year of disaster? Heavy on the dis!" he gave a half-hearted grin as he caught her eye.

"Yeah, so did I" Swift chuckled as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"So, does KF look better than me on the screen?"

"Pfft! In his dreams" Swift snorted, quickly glancing around.

"What?" Robin looked down at her in confusion

"Just checking" she frowned just as someone stepped into the main hall.

Swift and Robin both looked up as Artemis stopped short, in the middle of pulling on a green glove. She raised her eyebrows.

"What? I wasn't doing anything? Besides, you guys called me, remember?" she blinked at the two birds as a whirring yellow light lit up the room.

**_Recognised Superboy B05, Miss Martian B06_ **

The three of them turned as Superboy, and Miss Martian stepped out of the Zeta tube both holding hands.

Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Great another couple" she grumbled

"What? What's up?" came a voice from behind her.

Artemis flinched slightly as Wally zipped beside her but stood her ground all the same. Miss Martian and Superboy quickly dropped each other's hands.

"So, where's Kaldur?" Wally asked not noticing the clone or the martian's sudden awkwardness, and Christine shrugged.

"Helping Zatanna with her spellcasting."

"Alone?" Artemis quirked a brow. "And you're okay with that?"

"Uh yeah? Sure, why wouldn't I be? He's the only other guy we know who can use magic." Christine frowned in confusion as Dick groaned in exasperation beside her.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

"Never mind. We'll tell you later. Told you," Wally added in a hiss to Artemis who rolled her eyes.

When their gazes met, their smirks seemed to falter just a little bit.

_No way-Don't tell me-Wally and Arty?! Oh god! HA!_

Swift pursed her lips to stop her excited grin as she saw Wally's cocky smirk slowly softening into his genuine smile.

There was the sound of someone's footsteps and the golden moment passed when Aqualad came into the hall, leading a very nervous Zatanna behind. She was wearing a female variation of her father's magician's tail coat suit with a short black skirt, grey leggings and black boots.

At the sight of the new arrivals, Wally and Artemis both jumped away from one another.

_ARGH! WHY KAL? WHY?!_

If ever Swift had wanted to bang her head repeatedly against a wall until she got permanent brain damage, it would have been then. There was a loud sigh closer to her. She looked up and saw Robin's disappointed look.

"Damn! And they were so close" he hissed in disappointment.

"Tell me about it" Swift huffed. "He really should've made his move."

Robin looked down at her slightly confused.

"Made a move? I was talking about getting the perfect blackmail material."

"Gah! You boys!" Swift rolled her eyes as she slapped his chest.

"Ow!" Robin whined childishly.

"Oh hush! You've dealt with dad's blows in training; you can sure as hell deal with a tiny slap."

"Not when it's your slap" He grumbled gingerly rubbing at the spot. "Man! For a girl, you hit hard."

Swift raised her eyebrows "It's because I am a girl that my hits are hard in the first place." She slapped him playfully again to emphasise her point.

"Ow! Ok, that's it!"

Robin's frown split into a wide grin, and he moved forward with both hands, fingers twitching to tickle her sides.

Someone cleared their throats, and they both jumped apart to see the team exchanging smug looks while Aqualad raised his eyebrows coldly at them as if to say.

_Really? Now?_

"Sorry" Swift straightened up and turned to Robin "Pull up a holographic globe please."

"Roger that!" Robin said, his fingers swiping over the new holo-keyboard.

The holographic globe appeared again, and Zatanna stepped forwards nervously. She took out a wand from her tailcoat pocket and held it out in front of her.

"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!"

Swift watched as the white mist of magic flew from Zatanna's mouth and settled onto a spot high up on the globe.

"Co-ordinate's locked. Roanoke Island!" Robin announced giving Christine a relieved smile.

Zatanna turned around looking worried, but Swift nodded calmly.

"Well done Zee. You did it!" she gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worry we'll find them."

Zatanna gave a small smile but still rubbed her hands nervously. "I'm sorry…I need to…bathroom" she mumbled the last bit before running off.

"Will she be ok?" Miss Martian said as soon as the ends of the tailcoat disappeared around a corner.

"It's just the stress and the nerves that are getting to her. She's not used to dealing with these high-pressure situations. Just give her a little bit of time." Swift said calmly, though she too had half a mind to run off to a bathroom and puke her guts out from her anxiety.

Instead, she swallowed and began typing away at the holo-computer pulling up stats and maps of the island they were probably about to target. Aqualad stood to join her, watching each screen as they appeared and scanned each one to memory.

Robin joined them both as well silently keeping an eye on the two team leaders as they remained focused on the screen. He was feeling nervous, but he could only imagine how pressured they must be feeling, being the only two heroes officially in charge of the world's safety.

"Whoever is casting the spell is a powerful adversary. We must not take any chances." the Atlantean muttered, and the girl wonder paused in her typing.

"Please don't tell me you're considering using the, uh, you-know-what?" She gulped in fear.

"It might be a possibility" Aqualad admitted quietly, his gaze softening as she looked up at him with a scowl.

"No."

"Swift we've talked about this-"

"No, absolutely not! The last time you put on that-that helmet I-I- **We**  almost lost you." she snapped ignoring the stares from their other teammates. They'd never actually seen the two of them arguing before. The two of them always got on so serenely that it was a shock to see them like this.

"I understand what you're saying but-" Aqualad tried to say, but she steamrolled over him.

"No, I don't think you do. We're the only heroes left of the Justice League now we cannot afford to lose anyone else, especially not our leader-"

"And what if losing one of us was the only way to save the world?" Aqualad growled, pinching the bridge of his nose "Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And if that means we bring the helmet of Fate, then that's what we need to do right now."

"Fine!" she growled flinging her hands up into the air angrily "Fine, bring the helmet, put it on! See if I care! It's not like you'll be trapped for eternity by Nabu or anything!"

"Swift-" Aqualad reached out for her shoulder, but she shoved him off with a frustrated growl.

"Don't  _Swift_  me. I'm gonna wash my face. I'll see you in the hangar."

"You stubborn girl, will you just wait for a second and listen?!" Aqualad reached out to grab her again-

"SHAZAM!" someone yelled.

They all stumbled back as a massive bolt of lightning crashed into the centre of the hall.

As soon as the light faded there was a loud cry of excitement:

"It works!"

Swift stared wide-eyed in alarm at the uninvited guest. He seemed to be no older than ten years old, with black hair, blue eyes, wearing a warm red jacket over a pair of worn out jeans and sneakers.

He grinned at them all as they walked up to him quickly.

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad demanded fiercely, his blood still boiling slightly from his earlier argument, but the kid didn't seem scared as his face split into an excited grin.

"Quick read my mind!"

Miss Martian hesitated for a moment before her eyes glowed green as she entered her mental trance.

The boy stood there grinning, utterly unperturbed by the fact that a Martian girl was reading his mind.

After a few moments, she gasped "He's…Captain Marvel"

"Yeah and I'm Speedy Gonzales" Kid Flash snorted derisively. "Please, just because he believes he's Cap-"

"Gee Wally! Do I really have to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" The kid smirked. Swift stepped forwards, pursing her lips to hide the scowl as she realised that the kid was only a few inches shorter than her.

"If you uh…"

"Billy, Billy Batson" the kid piped in helpfully.

"Right Billy. Since your hero identity has an adult form, how did you end up here with all the kids?"

"Well…" Billy looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully "I was back home with my uncle watching TV as a kid when he and all the other adults disappeared. I tried to transform but I couldn't, so I tried to get to the watchtower to check-"

"And no one was there?" Swift nodded, but Billy shook his head.

"I couldn't even get in; the computer didn't recognise me. Eventually, I managed to transform into Captain Marvel, and I flew here to the cave and met with Batman and Zatara."

"And they're alright?" Robin asked quickly.

"Yeah! And I told Batman about how I managed to find them, and he says that there are now two dimensions one for adults-"

"And one for kids," Aqualad said with dawning comprehension. "So, because you can switch between adult and child form, does this mean you can also-"

"Switch between dimensions? Yeah!" Billy grinned. "I can do it now and pass a message onto Batman."

"Good! We might be able to solve this if we put our heads together" Aqualad nodded.

"Ok then! Be right back! SHAZAM!" there was a flash of lightning, and Billy Batson disappeared.

A few moments passed in silence before Swift broke it.

"Agh…this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder" she rubbed her temples with her fingers, which were brought down by Aqualad's gentle hand.

She glared up at him as he gripped her fingers consolingly but firmly.

"The Helmet of Fate is just a last resort." he murmured so that only she could hear. "I would never put it on again unless it was necessary. You know that"

"I know" she sighed avoiding his gaze "But, last time you got lucky because Nelson helped talk you out of the contract. I don't trust Nabu will let you go a second time."

Aqualad didn't say anything, only squeezing her hand tighter in his as at that moment Billy Batson zapped back into their midst with a message from Batman.

And so they were able to coordinate a plan, Billy switching back and forth between dimensions to relay the messages from one side to the other.

The plan was simple enough in words. A simple co-ordinated simultaneous attack from both teams in both worlds. Since they were dealing with high levels of sorcery, they needed to act fast to disrupt the efforts of their opponents before the effects became either permanent or devastating or even both.

But hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Hopefully…

* * *

**_Roanoke Island, November 6 2010, 02:06 EDT._ **

Swift shifted uncomfortably in her seat in the bioship as they began hovering into the last drop point above Roanoke Island. Robin, Artemis, Kid Flash and Superboy were all gone and dropped off at their drop zones leaving with Swift and Zatanna next up and Aqualad and Miss Martian to go last.

Swift stood up gritting her teeth as she chanced a last glance at him and the duffle bag next to him.

_It's only a last resort._

He assured her gently through the telepathic link.

_I know. I still don't like it._

She turned back to face the hole that had just appeared in the floor of the bioship.

 _Neither do I._ Aqualad admitted quietly before saying.

_Be safe._

_You too. Good luck._

Swift nodded back at him as he opened his mouth to say:

"Team Delta assemble."

"Ready," she and Zatanna said in unison. Miss Martian nodded, and a hole appeared in the bottom of the ship.

The two girls dropped through, Swift using her super breath to help Zatanna stick a safe landing.

"Thanks" the girl huffed as she hit the floor on her feet.

Swift nodded and put a finger to her lips before motioning down the forest path they stood upon.

Zatanna nodded, and they both began running in the direction in silence.

Swift knew they were approaching the spot when she heard bangs and clashes up ahead mingle with her friends' cries.

They both finally reached just in time to see Kid Flash, Superboy and Aqualad be thrown back down the paths they came. Someone cackled loudly.

Swift narrowed her eyes towards the centre of the battlefield where a red dome was covering a magic circle. Inside it, a young scrawny teenage boy in a black suit, with dark, wicked eyes and hair styled into what seemed like two devilish horns on the sides of his head, grinned as Zatanna put both hands forwards and fired a spell.

It bounced off the red dome pathetically, and the boy snorted.

"Tch! Baby magic" he snorted in an annoying nasally voice before quickly chanting something under his breath, casually flicking his wrist at her.

"Gah!" Zatanna shrieked as she was thrown high up into the air.

"Zee!" Swift growled as the sorcerer sent a cloud of black smog her way and shut her eyes tight, tilting her ears to listen intently. Through her echolocation, she could still feel the strange sorcerer standing amidst his bubble, though his form was distorted severely by the magical field.

She then felt something shift and heard Aqualad's huff of breath as he scrambled to his feet choking and coughing on the remainder of the smog that had surrounded him. Swift darted out of the smog cloud towards her teammate eyes narrowing as the sorcerer turned his attention towards him maliciously.

"Oh no you don't" She grunted as she launched herself between Aqualad and his attacker who had just swept a series of sharp knives magically summoned from thin air. With a flick of her war fans, she blocked each one of the projectiles, using a large gust from her super breath to blow the spell caster over, winding him and making him hit the edge of his dome.

He looked around for a moment wildly, until she flipped over the dome and launched herself into the air with her mechanical wings. He stumbled forwards and glared up at the sky. When he saw her his face split into a malicious sneer.

"Finally!" he jeered up at her "Someone who knows how to have a little fun around here!" he grinned and sent a spell her way. She dodged it just as many rocks came hurtling towards the dome as Miss Martian used her telekinesis.

The boy turned to her with disdainful boredom. "Tch! Interrupting my playtime, how rude!"

He opened his mouth and roared. Miss Martian gasped as she quickly flew to the side avoiding the blast of fire that, dragon-like, had been fired at her from the boy's mouth.

Swift quickly blew another gust of air to divert the fire back at the dome. Unlike her other attacks, the flames and embers merely bounced off the magical barrier, a few sparks barely missing her wings by a hairsbreadth.

_OK, so air can get through the barrier, but not anything else. That's interesting._

She frowned thoughtfully as the boy turned on her and aimed another breath of fire at her. She dodged it quickly but-

"OW!" Swift and Miss Martian both yelped as they crashed headlong into each other. They slammed into the ground. Swift rolled over to her side grunting in pain.

"Oh come on is that the best you've got?!" he cackled as he sent a bolt of red energy at her.

On impulse, she pushed against a barely stirring Miss Martian, which made them both roll away from each other. Swift used the momentum to scramble onto her feet and grab two specialised purple birdarangs.

She gripped them hard and expertly threw them against the ground close to the edge of the red dome. Upon impact, there was a loud crack of energy and a flash of blue, white light as electricity zapped at the dome.

"Damn" She growled as she realised the boy inside the dome was not even the slightest bit affected by her attack.

"Swift look out!"

Swift turned just as something dark hurtled into her from the side snarling ferociously. She looked up in terror as a vast feline beast, with orange fur, black stripes and large red eyes growled down at her as she lay between its front paws.

"…nice kitty" she breathed taking in the size of the beast's head. By god that mouth was big enough to take her head off in one bite. As she gulped the feline gave a loud roar baring sabre-like fangs, its spit and fur flying in her face. She reached out blindly and grabbed a broken branch from somewhere to the side which she held out in front of her as the cat came down for a bite.

For a moment she thought it had worked, as the big cat began chomping around the branch, slightly confused as to why it wasn't biting her. But her hope was short-lived. As she struggled to get out from under it, there was a sickening crunch, and the branch broke asunder in the feline's mouth. It growled for a moment spitting out the broken fragments before turning its attention back on her.

She shrieked in terror, pulling her arms up to shield her face as the sharp teeth began to hurtle down towards her at killer speed.

"HNGH!"

Swift felt the cat's body heat quickly fly off her as Superboy rammed the cat down with a football tackle. It rolled off her slamming into a tree where it stumbled around slightly dazed from the impact.

"You ok?" Superboy huffed pulling her up to her feet with one hand.

"Yeah! Thanks" she panted rubbing the frightened tears out of her eyes. He sighed in relief but stiffened as the cat's angry rumblings began anew as it reared for another strike.

"Get back in the air now!" Superboy yelled picking Swift out without a second thought.

"HEY!" She cried out in alarm as he tossed her upwards into the air. She managed to unfold her wings before gravity could take its hold. She quickly flew around the battlefield and spotted Artemis firing an arrow which was about to be hit by a spell. With a turn in midair, she flapped one of her wings, which blew a gust of air at the curse causing it to ricochet off onto one of the tree's allowing the arrow to hit the barrier. But for all the good it meant, they might as well have chucked a pebble at it.

This was ridiculous; they'd never be able to win this one.

The centre of the magic circle in the red dome began to glow white blue.

The witch boy in the dome glared down at it and pouted angrily as the energy began to fizzle out of what seemed to be a crystal in the form of white lightning.

"So, you've decided to team up with the grownups? Teamwork is so overrated." He huffed, flicking his wrists. The white lighting shifted its chaotic course and directed itself towards the team on the ground in front of the boy.

"ROBIN!" Swift cried in horror as her partner flew across her path with Artemis close behind. They hurtled into the ground, and she landed running towards them, just as Zatanna came level with them.

"Robin! Wake up!" Swift tapped his cheeks sharply. Robin grunted but otherwise didn't stir.

"Artemis is not responding either" Zatanna's voice wavered before glancing back towards a clump of trees. Swift followed her gaze which led towards a large rock. Swift and Zatanna exchanged glances. Both knew what was hidden beneath and both didn't like the sound of it. Aqualad said it could only be used in a time of desperation.

Well, now they were desperate.

"No" she shook her head at Zatanna. But the other girl had already raised her palm and chanted a spell, revealing a golden helmet.

Swift rushed forwards to push the helmet away, not noticing the small glint of golden energy surround the helmet of fate at the last second as both girls reached out to grab at it.

She touched both her palms to it just as Zatanna reached out too.

_BOOM!_

"SWIFT!"

But Swift could not hear any of her friend's cries of her name. Something white flashed over her eyes, and she fell.

Fell into darkness…

* * *

"Come on Child! It's time to get up!"

Christine winced as something hard and wooden prodded her stomach.

She opened her eyes and was assaulted with the sight of a mass of swirling colours.

"That's it, get up" the object prodded her again, and a shadow crossed over her face as someone stood over her.

She blinked.

It was an old man with short grey hair and big bushy grey eyebrows which furrowed in a small frown. A cane hovered over her stomach as if ready to prod it again.

"Who…who are you?" she breathed, slowly sitting up and rubbing her stomach.

"Me?" the old man's face split into a gentle smile as she stood up. "I'm Kent Nelson. But I don't need to ask you who you are, do I? Christine Hallows"

Christine's eyes widened, and she bent her legs in a fighting stance.

"Whoa, there little miss! Don't blow your top!" Kent quickly put both hands up in token of peace before chuckling. "Heh! That Atlantean boy was right you do have a hot head."

Christine stopped in her tracks "You mean Kaldur?"

Kent's eyes softened "Yes. And I must say he spoke of you very fondly."

Kent's brow furrowed as he assessed her. Christine looked down at herself and saw that she was in her favourite white summer dress, not her Swift uniform.

"How the hell?"

"It's the magic of this space" Kent explained calmly gesturing to the swirling masses of colour around them. "A sub-dimension where your true soul can exist without leaving your body."

"A sub-dimension? what do you-" but she was interrupted when the wind began whipping up around them.

Christine was about to open her mouth as something crashed behind her. She, Kent turned, just in time to spot a raven-haired girl in a black tailcoat struggling on the ground.

"Zatanna!" Christine ran over to her friend and helped her to her feet as the golden light faded.

Zatanna swooned slightly. "Ugh! Swift! Where…where am I?"

"I dunno in a weird sub-dimension! But what happened to you?"

"I…I put on the Helmet of Fate-"

"WHAT!" Christine and Kent both exclaimed in shock.

" **Yes!** " said a loud booming voice of a man and they all looked up to see the golden clad magical warrior standing amongst them. " **This child has granted me the use of her body and soul. And so did you young Swift.**   **Now here you shall both remain.** "

There was a deliberate cough, and Kent Nelson stepped forward in front of the two girls defensively.

" **You…** "

"Yes, Nabu" the old man glared fiercely "And I know you are desperate to live in the outside world again, but you know you cannot break the rules of Order."

" **But it is clear that the world needs Dr Fate! And for Dr Fate to exist, I need a host** " Nabu glared back.

"But you can't take the life force of two people, two children!" Kent yelled.

" **This conversation holds no purpose to you old man! Begone!** " Nabu turned on his former host's soul and waved a hand. Kent gasped as his hand began to turn transparent.

"KENT!" Zatanna cried out, but the old man's soul had already vanished like a puff of smoke.

Christine rounded on Nabu fiercely, blue eyes flashing angrily

"Nabu! I know the terms of your magical contract. You may be able to possess the soul of one, but you cannot take the souls of two! Not unless you want to be sent to the Void for the rest of eternity"

" **Silence child**!  **Do not speak of matters you don't understand! I will take your friend as a host and you cannot stop me this time!** " Nabu yelled sending a blast of golden energy at her. Zatanna cried out her name but Christine's vision was already fading and the sounds she could hear were muffled drones.

_"_ _Swift! SWIFT! Wake up! Come on open your eyes."_

_NO WAIT! ZATANNA!_

But her mind had once again drifted back into the darkness.

* * *

Batman looked around the clearing, his heart heavy with guilt and fatigue as he looked down upon Zatanna who was on her knees sobbing her heart out into Artemis's chest as the archer girl held her close along with Miss Martian.

He couldn't stop it this time, not without paying a hefty price and now another child was missing their parents. They'd managed to return the world to normal…but he still felt like he'd failed.

He heard the rapid breaths and grunts a few feet away and turned to see Robin and Aqualad stooped over an unconscious Swift as they desperately tried to perform CPR. The Atlantean had tilted the girl wonder's head back and was pinching her nose as he breathed air into her through mouth-to-mouth. Beside him, Robin was pumping her chest with the heel of his palm.

"Come on Missy, come on. Wake up. Wake up!" the Boy Wonder growled in frustration as Aqualad straightened up to catch his breath, pale eyes flashing as an idea struck him.

"Get back" he growled, his dark tattoos suddenly glowing a bright white blue.

Robin leapt back as the older boy's hand pressed down over his partner's chest, the crackling electricity zapping straight into her body.

Batman couldn't help but wince as he watched his protégé's body convulse horribly from the shock. Throughout their many year's crimefighting, it had never been easy to see either of his partners so close to death.

He was impressed by how calm Robin was in the face of this horrible event as he pressed his ear against her chest.

"It's working. One more time Kaldur. This is it I can feel it!" The boy wonder nodded.

There was another zap, another thud as the girls' chest rose and fell hard to the ground. Then there as a gasp.

"Swift" both Aqualad and Robin cried out in relief as a pair of yellow eyes suddenly snapped open from the ground.

_Air! Need Air._

"Ugh!" Swift winced as cold air suddenly surged into her lungs. Her entire body felt like it had been crushed under a large rock and ached terribly as she stared up into the night sky.

"Welcome back" Batman breathed heavily in relief as he saw her face scrunch up in discomfort. Her skin was so pale it was almost blue as Kaldur helped her sit up gently.

"I'd say I was glad to be back" Swift groaned as she clutched at her sore ribs "But something tells me I won't be tomorrow."

Robin sighed in relief as he slumped back to the ground.

Swift meanwhile leaned into the strong dark, tattooed arms of Aqualad as he held her close in a tight embrace. The smell of the sea filled her nostrils and invigorated her from her drowsy disoriented state as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Dad Why?! Dad! Dad!"

Swift looked over his shoulder and saw Zatanna sobbing on the ground with Miss Martian and Artemis holding her shoulders.

_Oh Zee_

She felt her eyes tear up and she buried her face in the crook of Aqualad's gilled neck.

_Zee…I'm so sorry._

* * *

_**Mount Justice, November 6 2010, 10:38 EDT** _

The morning air was chilly as Christine Hallows quietly slid out of Artemis's bedroom. She, M'gann and Artemis had all spent the night in there with Zatanna, comforting her over the loss of her father to the Helmet of Fate.

While the two older girls had done most of the hand holding and tissue passing, Christine had hung back quietly; her eyes cast down to the floor as she tried and failed to find anything to say.

The only thing she could say was sorry.

Sorry that she had not been able to stop Zatanna from putting on the helmet. Remorseful that she hadn't stopped Kaldur from bringing the darn thing along in the first place.

Try as hard as she might; she was angrier at herself than she was with him.

Kaldur only wanted what was best for the team, and he was willing to sacrifice himself if necessary to save all their lives and the fate of the world. She couldn't fault him for that.

She had only tried to stop him from bringing the helmet because she didn't want to lose him.

She felt awful with herself.

There the whole world had been, hanging on the brink of destruction and yet all she could think about was selfishly protecting one person.

_And that's why he's the leader, and you're not._

_"Yet you could be so much more."_ Another voice sneered in the back of her head.

She grit her teeth as she quickly traced a hand down the front of her sleeping top and pulled out the Court of Owls medallion.

"I don't need you. I can still be strong without you"

She snorted bitterly to herself as she quietly shut the door to M'gann's room behind her, stuffing the medallion back down her shirt.

The rest of the team was still asleep in their rooms. The night had drained all of them, both physically and emotionally, and it didn't look like any of them, even the early bird Dick Grayson, would be waking up any time soon.

Or so she thought until she stepped into the common room and saw Kaldur sitting alone at the kitchen island, still in his hero gear.

He looked dreadful, his skin hung on his dry face, and his whole body was sagging with fatigue.

"Good Morning" his lips quirked up in a small smile as she rushed up towards him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" she narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of the puffy dark circles under his eyes. Had he even slept at all last night?

"I'm alright" he lied, avoiding her eye as he took a sip of water.

"No, you're not. Your skin's almost dry." Christine frowned as she pressed her fingers against his cheek.

"I couldn't sleep" he sighed, nuzzling his nose into her hand as he held it to his face and pulled her in for a hug.

The smell of her lavender body wash, mixing in with her delicate natural scent was so soothing against the torrents of dark thoughts that had been swirling in his head all night.

"Every time I try to shut my eyes I keep replaying what happened over and over in my head." He murmured into her skin "And I keep seeing you, lying there so still, covered in blood with that knife stuck just here-"

He sucked in a deep breath as he pressed his free hand over her small flat stomach, the spot he knew that horrible stab wound scar was.

"-And then last night when you touched the Helmet of Fate-I-I couldn't hear you breathing-and…I don't know what I would've done if we'd lost you..." his voice trailed away as he shut his eyes doing his best to steel himself.

"Kal…" Christine's eyes watered as she stared at him. She knew Kaldur had been upset by the attack at Yellowstone, but she had no idea it had affected him so severely. And then there was last night. She remembered the way he held her after she had woken up. How he had trembled as he gripped her tight, unwilling to let her go even as he had carried her back onto the bioship.

He always acted so perfect and so in control of himself in front of them all. To see him looking so lost and terrified almost broke her heart.

She stepped closer to him, cupping his face in both her hands. He blinked up at her in surprise as with the gentlest of touches she leaned in to press her lips against his.

It was only a small brush, barely a peck, yet it made the blood in Kaldur's veins burn as they parted. Her face was red as the sudden realisation of what she just did dawn on her.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I-I-don't know what came over-" she stuttered only to be silenced as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again. He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the kiss, and perhaps she felt them because her arms wound about his neck to pull him closer.

"Christine" he breathed against her lips. She had never heard him say her name before. To listen to it pass his lips, especially in that deep tone of voice almost made her melt into a puddle in his hands as he kissed her again.

It was like a wall had been taken down between them. A wall which they had been fretfully skirting around and peeking over for glimpses of one another. Sometimes they had let themselves sit on top of the wall and teeter over the edge, too afraid to land on the other's side not knowing if they would catch one another if they fell. But now they'd finally come through it and could see one another clearly, and it was such a relief to know that they both wanted the same thing.

"Forgive me." Kaldur murmured as they pressed their foreheads against one another.. "I have known who you are for a long time-"

"I know, Batman already told me about it." Christine hummed, her hands sliding to the sides of his neck to trace along his gills. She felt him shiver a little as they fluttered under her touch.

"Sorry. They're a bit sensitive" he murmured, gently grabbing her stroking fingers in his.

"You mean ticklish?" she smirked, and he chuckled.

"Don't get any ideas" he warned, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was more than happy to stay as they were right now. And quite frankly so was she.

They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the small shadow of Dick Grayson sneaking into the room. He blushed scarlet as he caught sight of the pair of them wrapped in each other's arms, murmuring softly between small kisses.

Of all the things he'd expected to see that morning, this was NOT on the list.

_Looks like someone's getting cosy._

He scowled as he caught sight of Kaldur's webbed hands looped around his partner's back.

He was about to open his mouth to announce his entrance, only to stop short as he caught sight of the smile spread over Christine's face.

She looked happy. Truly, happy.

Dick couldn't even remember the last time his partner had ever smiled like that around anyone including himself and Bruce. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her smile like that since before her father went missing four years ago. It was a smile that lit up her whole face and her entire being from the inside out.

Kaldur too was looking so more relaxed than the boy wonder had ever seen him. A contented smile played on his lips as he murmured something softly under his breath that made the girl in his arms giggle.

_No. Let them be. They deserve this._

Quietly so as not to disturb them Dick started taking careful steps backwards until he was melting back into the shadows of the corridor.

_At least something has gone right today._

The Boy Wonder sighed to himself as stood outside the door to his room, glancing back down the corridor to the common room entrance.

It indeed was amazing, how such a terrible day such as yesterday, could've brought about something beautiful as what he had just witnessed.

He leaned his head back against the wood of the door and stared up at the ceiling, listening intently to his partner's giggles and his team leader's, warm, happy chuckles, echo softly down the corridor.

_Now, this is what I call feeling the aster._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode 19 is up and the pairings are finally on the way.
> 
> Kaldur and Christine finally kissed, though it perhaps wasn't under the best of circumstances, and Dick's finally accepted the two of them (took him long enough). It was interesting exploring a different side of Christine and Kaldur's relationship, especially when it's been put under pressure. I figured that all the times she almost died would plague Kaldur deeply in his mind, but he would desperately try not to show it, especially in front of the others. However, there has to be a breaking point where his emotional wall is bound to crack.
> 
> Then there was their argument, which was fun to write. No relationship is perfect, and Kaldur/Christine shouldn't be an exception. Kaldur is prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of the world but Christine is selfish and not ready to lose him. Though she understands the need for the Helmet of Fate, Christine hates Kaldur relying on it as a failsafe because of how it uses people as a host.
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and keep reading, faving and reviewing for more.
> 
> Till next time
> 
> Adios,
> 
> FuzzyBeta.


	20. Coldhearted

****

"Red Queen?"

"Yes?"

"The time has come"

"Good. Tell the light I will be with them shortly. Once you've finished that errand, go to your post and await the signal. Those brats and their mentors should be there within a few hours."

"Of course."

"Oh and Ishan?"

"Yes, mam?"

"According to my sources, my  ** _daughter_**  has taken up with that Atlantean boy. I think it would be wise to give up on her now to save yourself any future pain."

"Thank you for your kind consideration mam, but you need not worry about me-"

"Pff! I worry about you! Don't flatter yourself, boy! Now go!"

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Creeeak…. Wham!_

_Thump. Slide._

"So…you think you can hide behind your precious Kaldur'ahm can you? Well, I'll show you, Christine Hallows! I'll show all of you!"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, November 11 2010, 16:05 EST** _

_He's in the cave. Assume the position._

M'gann informed the team over the mental link.

Christine and Dick both crouched behind the Common Room couch. Dick was in his usual dark jeans, jacket and green sweater and Christine in her black and purple Swift T-shirt with her new purple/black tartan miniskirt, with black boots and a black leather jacket.

Behind them, Kaldur crouched in a comfortable white buttoned shirt and a pair of dark blue slacks, smirking fondly as the girl wonder quickly tugged him down by the collar to hide the top of his head behind the couch.

"Remind me why we're bothering to hide. He already knows we're throwing him a party," he whispered in her ear, one arm wrapped around her middle for both balance and affection.

"Because apparently, this is what good friends do at surprise parties. I don't know it's all Greek to me." Christine shrugged rolling her eyes, giggling as the Atlantean chuckled and kissed the back of her ear.

_Yeash! Get a room you two!_

Artemis sighed over the telepathic link as everyone else sniggered across it.

Ever since the two of them had kissed five nights ago, Kaldur and Christine had been as thick as thieves, spending nearly all their time at the cave together.

At first, everyone had teased them, calling it the honeymoon phase and asking them when they would be expecting wedding invitations. Most of the jibes came from Wally and Dick, who were rewarded with hard slaps on the back of their heads from Christine and extra hard hits from Kaldur during sparring.

Conner, to everyone's surprise, barely reacted when they told him of his "sister's" new boyfriend. He had just shrugged and said it was about time it happened and left it at that. M'gann and Artemis, however, were ecstatic and when the boys were all gone would dig Christine for details about her new relationship, along with Zatanna, who had only just started to settle into her new life at the cave. The poor girl was still grieving over the loss of her father, but the latest gossip and companionship of the three other girls proved to be just the distraction she needed right now.

Truly though, the whole team was glad that Kaldur and Christine had finally stopped skirting around one another and were being honest about their feelings. Kaldur had also relaxed a lot more around the rest of the team, joking and chatting a lot more than he used to. All in all, it was a welcome change, especially in the wake of the events at Roanoke Island.

 _Shh! Here he comes._  M'gann giggled as they heard their favourite speedster's voice echo down the corridor.

"-It'd be a tragedy if I missed my own-"

"SURPRISE"

"WHA!" Wally mock screamed as all his friends, Red Tornado and the Flash, popped out from behind the furniture "Aw you guys! Ya shouldn't have!"

"Yeah not like you haven't been hinting for days or anything" Dick pushed up his shades further up his nose.

"Well surprise or no surprise it's still your special day" Christine smiled fondly shaking her head.

"So, does this mean I get special treatment, Missy?" Wally grinned waggling his eyebrows at the girl wonder.

She sighed and walked over to him. "At the risk of pissing off my overprotective partner and boyfriend, yes you do."

She stood on her tip toes and pecked Wally on the cheek. "Happy B'day Wallace West."

"Thanks" Wally grinned as he gave her a tight hug in return.

As he looked up to thank the others again, he caught the frown from Dick, and the cold raised eyebrows from Kaldur. He was quick to relax as his new girlfriend winked conspiratorially at him before leaning to stage whisper in Wally's ear.

"Dick's just jealous because you're not hugging him"

"WHAT!" Dick cried out alarmed. "No, I'm not!"

"Aww! Come here bud! Time to feel the love" Wally's face split into a wicked grin as he let go of Christine and sped over to Dick.

Everyone burst out laughing as the speedster grabbed the struggling boy wonder in a massive hug.

"Dude you're as light as a princess! What the hell!" Wally cried out as he twirled Dick around in the air.

"I know you; I know you from once upon a dream~."

"You traitor!" he pointed to Christine who was giggling as she sang the Disney song before she was dragged down by Artemis who was doubled up with laughter.

There was the flash of a camera as M'gann caught the shot.

"NOOOO!" Dick howled angrily as he was spun around again.

"I'm sorry Rob, couldn't resist" Christine hiccupped.

"Dude seriously Chillax! It was just a peck!" Wally laughed putting a huffing Dick down and clapping him on the back "Besides you don't get this hecked up when Kaldur makes out with her" he added in an undertone.

"Well, when you put it that way-ow!" Dick smirked only to wince as Christine slapped the back of both their heads again.

"Worth it" he grinned. He couldn't remain mad at Wally for long.

Kaldur shook his head in amusement as he stepped forwards.

"Happy Birthday Wally" he reached forwards to shake Wally's hand but was yanked right into a hug instead.

The rest of the birthday greetings went on like this, with Wally hugging everyone even Artemis, though that was purely accidental as Wally's eyes had been shut and he thought he was embracing M'gann. It wasn't until M'gann popped out of the kitchen hovering all the party food up over the counter with her telekinesis that Wally opened his eyes to see a very shocked archer in his arms.

Dick grabbed the camera and clicked it twice just in time, because the next minute they let go quickly and brushed themselves off, both slightly pink.

"Oh…revenge is  _sweet_ " Dick grinned.

"Whatever you say  _princess_ " Wally glared at him and poked his tongue out as he flumped to sit in front of the coffee table which was laden with all his favourite snacks and his presents.

"Yeah, real mature you two." Christine, Conner and Kaldur all rolled their eyes in unison.

"We made two cakes" M'gann giggled as placed a party hat over Wally's head.

"Awesome! What will you guys eat?" he looked up at them excitedly.

"We'll split the cupcake" M'gann smiled down at him "Make a wish."

"Way ahead of you" he waggled his eyebrows at her.

Everyone clapped and cheered happily as Wally then blew out the candles on both the cakes.

"I'm just amazed he hasn't figured it out yet. Everyone else has" Dick muttered.

"I didn't figure it out" Christine leaned her elbow on Dick's shoulder and sighed contentedly smiling, "Conner told me right after they got together."

"Really?"

"Yep. Oh god! He's impossible" Christine chuckled as the birthday boy made another pass at M'gann.

"Y'know if I tell you my wish it won't come true. But if you guess…"

M'gann handed him a slice of cake. Christine noticed that Artemis's face turned sour as the speedster grinned.

"Nope! Guess again"

M'gann kissed Wally's forehead much to his disappointment and Artemis's smugness.

"Well, well, well what have we here?" Christine and Dick both exchanged sly grins.

The party went on smoothly. Dick and Artemis were having a conversation about their mentors and comparing their teaching styles. M'gann was serving out cake to everyone next to Wally, who was still flirting with her. Conner and Kaldur were both talking with the Flash about League stories, while Christine engaged in conversation with Red Tornado about updates to the cave security systems.

The Girl Wonder had just excused herself to get a drink when she saw Zatanna standing alone in a corner, shoulders slightly hunched. Had she not liked Kaldur, she might've chosen this moment to get close to the raven-haired beauty. She didn't have it in her to even try.

Right now, the magician girl didn't need a flirt. She needed a friend.

Christine walked over to cut a slice of one of the cakes, before walking over to the girl.

"Hey," she smiled gently as Zatanna turned around to face her. She handed her the slice of cake which was accepted with a small smile.

"Thanks."

"So, are you settling in here ok?" Christine asked gently.

"Oh yeah" Zatanna sighed heavily looking around the room "Just like home."

"I know it's all intimidating, and a bit weird and new but don't worry" Christine's smile widened mischievously "Someday you'll get used to seeing Wally demolishing food like Godzilla."

Zatanna burst out into loud giggles as said speedster stuffed a large piece of cake in his mouth with his hands.

_Oh, if only Alfred were here, he'd sort him out good and proper._

Christine cringed as Wally chewed with bulging cheeks when Artemis and Dick both came striding over.

"Think we should tell him?" Artemis jerked her head just as Wally grinned again at M'gann as she handed him another slice of cake.

"You're getting warmer babe. But I could make you warmer still."

"Oh, that's just sad, even by his standards" Christine facepalmed.

"Well he is the only one who doesn't know" Dick grinned

"Then please" Artemis smirked, "Allow me."

She stepped forwards, and Dick, Christine and Zatanna all watched as she leaned in to whisper in the speedster's ear.

He looked up just in time to see M'gann wiping Conner's lips that were covered in frosting with her thumb before giggling and licking it off her finger playfully.

"Awww man!" he groaned in disappointment.

**_Beep Beep!_ **

Everyone looked up at the ceiling as Batman's voice issued through the speakers.

" ** _Attention Team. Suit up. Polar Stealth. Mission briefing in five_**."

"Polar stealth?" Christine looked at Dick who frowned at her.

"This cannot be good."

* * *

Swift stepped into the mission room still wriggling her feet around in a pair of white heavy combat boots. Unlike her standard dark uniform, her polar stealth uniform consisted of a pure white thermal bodysuit with a light grey insignia, white combat boots and a silver utility belt and garters.

Her head too was entirely covered by a full face white ninja mask that she wore over a winged grey domino mask so that her entire body, face and all was protected. Strapped to her back a new pair of pale silver coloured mechanical wings sat. Being designed for heavier winds they were much bulkier than her usual wings, and it was taking a while for her to adjust to the weight as she shifted her back uncomfortably.

"And here coming out of the blue corner, straight from the frigid heights of Gotham City, the Sno~w Swift!" Kid Flash cheered as he caught sight of her new gear.

"Snow Swift. Really?" Swift rolled her eyes, her mask hiding her fond grin as she went over to stand beside Aqualad who was in a white and black version of his regular uniform.

She looked around at her teammates. Most of them were like Aqualad, decked out in white and grey variations of their uniforms with only Artemis, Zatanna and Robin bearing any significant changes to their costumes, with Zatanna and Artemis wearing long fur-lined hooded jackets over their heads and Robin wearing a white fitted cowl over his head.

There was a moment's silence before Batman's face appeared on a holographic screen in front of them all.

"Hey! Where's Flash?" Kid Flash suddenly looked around slightly worried that his mentor wasn't there anymore.

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments," Batman said before tilting his shoulders as if turning something in his hands.

Swift raised her eyebrows as the screen tilted slightly allowing her to see the Batwing.

"A massive ice storm has paralysed North America from coast to coast. Satellite imagery has detected five flying ice fortresses source unknown which seems to be responsible and must be stopped."

Swift's eyes narrowed as a holographic image of a strange construction billowing out white snow came up in front of them.

"Well can't the watchtower just blast them out of the sky or something?" Wally asked Batman.

"What's a Watchtower?" Zatanna looked around in confusion

"Wally" Swift groaned pinching her nose in aggravation as Batman sighed heavily.

"The league's orbiting headquarters is  **not** weaponised. And with both Green Lantern's off-world I need all-hands-on-deck."

"So, wait, hang on you don't mean to say-" Swift's eyes widened with dawning comprehension

"The league and the team working side by side" Robin finished grinning.

"WOAH! REALLY?!" Kid Flash looked like Christmas had come early.

Batman's stature relaxed before he turned his gaze on Superboy.

"Superboy, use the Super Cycle to rendezvous with the Batwing at Ice Fortress-1. You'll drop off Robin, Swift and Aqualad then continue up with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at ice fortress two. Miss Martian, Artemis and Zatanna take the bioship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter at ice fortress-3. Other Leaguers will deal with fortresses four and five."

"Uh, Batman? I think you skipped me" Kid Flash looked up hopefully.

"Kid Flash" Batman turned his attention to the speedster "A young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it three thousand miles across the country."

Swift watched with pity as KF's face fell from joy into one of despair.

"Who is this girl?"

"Does it matter?" Batman's eyes narrowed, and everyone shuddered.

"No. of course, not" Kid grumbled "But can't we Zeta-"

"Zeta tubes are offline" Robin cut across his best friend gently "Sorry."

"Right…then how can I say no? Guess I won't be needing stealth." but swift could tell Wally's heart was not in it as he tapped the insignia on his uniform, morphing it back into the signature red and yellow.

"Speedy delivery boy…at your service."

There was a beep from Swift's holo-computer "Co-ordinate's received" she nodded to Batman who nodded back.

"Good. Batman out." He shut off the connection just as Wally groaned, his face falling even lower.

_Poor Wally…and on his birthday too._

Swift's face softened.

* * *

_**Ice Fortress-1 Chicago, November 11 2010, 16:49 CST** _

Swift was flying with her wings above the Super Cycle in which Robin, Superboy, Aqualad and Wolf were seated in when she saw the Batwing in the distance circling a large floating fortress that streamed out snow and wind from its base.

She tapped her com.

"Boy's I've spotted the Batwing."

" _We see it too_ " Aqualad agreed

" _I'll steer you guy's closer_ ," Superboy said before turning the Super Cycle forty-five degrees left heading straight for the fortress top.

" _Should be able to stick a landing from six feet_ " Robin muttered.

"Don't take any chances Wonder Boy" Swift frowned as they almost came level with the Batwing's trajectory "You've got a long drop if you miscalculate."

" _Batman to Swift, Robin and Aqualad. I'm going to drop on the east side with Aquaman and Flash. You three rendezvous with us at that point_."

"Roger Batman." The three teens nodded as Superboy hovered the cycle above the fortress. Robin and Aqualad both jumped off landing with a roll while Swift kept to the air, giving Wolf a quick scratch behind the ear as she rushed to join her partner and team leader.

Several guns went off as the three teens ran around towards the east point of the fortress.

Soon they reached a sheltered area where Aquaman had pulled up several of the metal panels of the floor and used them to make a makeshift dome to shield himself, Flash and Batman from the blasts.

"So, what's the plan?" Robin asked as he pushed a scowling Swift in under cover first. The action did not go unnoticed by Batman who saw that both the boys were crouching over the girl wonder to shield her from the gunfire.

"It's simple, you, Aqualad, Batman, Aquaman and I will be a distraction for the guns while Swift uses her wings to fly inside the fortress and find out what's going on there," Flash said quickly.

"Then what do I do?" Swift asked confused.

"You do whatever you deem to be right," Aquaman grunted as the metal around them shook as another hard blast hit it.

Swift looked at Batman with raised eyebrows "Seriously of all the times you choose for me to take the lead you choose now?"

"It was the most logical choice given your abilities" Batman narrowed his eyes. He did not feel comfortable with the plan at all, but there wasn't anything else they could do. "Try and not get seen. Keep your com on and contact us at once if you need help."

"I thought those were a given?" Swift smirked. It was almost as if he couldn't help himself; he had to do the fatherly thing and lay down the rules before she went out and did her own job.

She sighed "You don't always have to worry like this y'know. I'll be fine."

Batman narrowed his eyes sternly "It's my job to worry. Don't you remember what happened the last time you said that sort of thing?"

Swift's face fell slightly as the memory of the volcano and Red Queen came back to her mind's eye.

"Just be careful and keep us in the loop" he growled low so that only she could hear the slight quiver of concern in his voice.

_Wow! I always knew he was upset about that whole Red Queen thing, but I never expected him to take it that badly_

Swift sucked in a deep breath and nodded slowly to show that she'd understood

"Ok, I will."

She turned to Robin and Aqualad who were assessing the conditions outside.

"What have we got out there?"

"Blasters, laser cannons, the works, " Robin said frowning as he pulled up a holo-map of the fortress.

"Any openings you can see?"

"Only windows and they seem to be located further up towards the top" Aqualad pointed at the top of the hologram before adding quietly. "Be careful, the maelstrom's winds will only get more dangerous the higher up you go."

"I know" Swift muttered darkly as she took in the ratio from the computer before looking at the windows. "Damn. They're small too."

"You're small" Robin smirked, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Just because you're an inch taller than I am-"

"Batman I can't keep this barrier up! It can't take any more" Aquaman called out.

"Get ready" Batman barked as Flash zoomed out ahead.

"Evasive Maneuver five" Aqualad barked and him, Robin and Swift crouched low in three different directions back to back, prepped for a running start.

"Let it go Aquaman" Batman growled, positioning himself in the fourth place.

As the barrier dropped Swift leapt into flight at once. She kept low to the ground of the fortress, using her super breath to push herself up the sides of the fort. Apart from a couple of judders from strong gusts and the occasional turret firing ammunition at her, the flight was relatively safe.

 _Good, the distraction is working._ Swift smiled as she saw Robin come to Batman's aid by flinging a birdarang at one of the guns.

She sucked in a deep breath, increasing her speed as she streamlined her wings alongside her body to fit through a window three floors down from the top of the fortress.

She slipped through the opening with ease before silently dropping into a low crouch on the floor.

"Swift to Alpha Squad. I'm in the Fortress" she whispered into her com as she cautiously stood to her feet and sheathed her wings back in their pack.

She seemed to have landed on the edge of a giant metal catwalk that extended around the cylindrical shape of the fortress. In the middle of the structure was a towering pillar glowing strong blue light, eliminating the need for lights along the walls.

Swift narrowed her eyes as she crept silently over to the edge of the balcony and saw that the pillar was reachable via four thin bridges that spanned the radius between the glowing pylon and her vantage point.

She looked over the edge of the balcony and saw several other floors beneath matching the structure of the one she was on.

_Hold on a moment. Where is everyone?_

A machine this big but not one person inside to control it?

She put her hand to her ear com pulling down her mouth mask so that her voice was less muffled.

"Alpha Squad!" she hissed stepping away from the edge and back to the window "Guys do you copy?"

" _Right here kid_ " Flash called out.

" _Aqualad and Aquaman are online_ " Aqualad confirmed his and Aquaman's presence.

" _Both Bats are here loud and clear_ " she heard her partner's gleeful voice call out loudly. " _Did you find anything_?"

"I did, and I didn't" Swift's eyes darted around the space "there is a mechanism inside here that's controlling the fortress, but no one's around to steer it or monitor it."

The silence suddenly hit her eardrums like a clap of thunder as an unnatural chill slid up her spine.

She sniffed the air. She could smell something musky and sweaty, almost like a man's scent.

_There's something very wrong here…something's very-_

" _Are you the only one inside_?" Batman grunted, and Swift heard a couple of thuds as if he was hitting something heavy.

She walked back over to look over the railings at the pylon. Not a soul in sight.

"I'm not sure" Swift gulped as the chill up her spine suddenly spiked making the hairs on the back of her neck standing up on end.

"…guys, I think I need back-AHH -Hmf!"

Swift's yell was muffled as a large hand clapped itself over her mouth from behind.

" _Swift!_ " five voices cried out in her ear as another hand pulled her arm back in a painful lock.

She struggled as she attempted to thrust her hips back into the person's stomach to release herself from their grip. They grunted from the strain and effort but didn't budge.

"Let me go!" She growled in irritation, and pulled up her knee, driving the heel of her combat boot into her attacker's foot hard while at the same time biting the gloved fingers over her mouth. They gave a cry of anger but still didn't let go, and they grabbed her around the shoulders instead.

" _Swift! What's going on?!_ " Batman barked through the com.

Using their body weight and the arm as an anchor she swung her legs forwards and kicked them both back. She felt her feet hit the attacker's thighs hard. Their grip slackened, and she dropped her legs and pushed them both backwards fast till they had rammed into the wall. As soon as they hit, she pulled back both her elbows simultaneously to deliver two strikes to their stomach. There was a grunt of pain, and her attacker let go at once. She dropped into a crouch and spun, flicking her leg out at the last part of the turn to sweep the attacker off their feet to slump on the ground before she dashed over to the window.

But she was only halfway there when the attacker flung something round at her. She ducked, but it caught both her hands as she reached out for the window ledge. The round object then split open revealing two weights joined by a black line. They wrapped around her hands and arms binding them tight as the hand of her attacker grabbed at her ankle, tripping her, but also pulling them down to the floor as well. She fell flat on her face painfully. The ground was hard and cold. She struggled to get up but the hand around her ankle twisted hard.

She looked back and kicked hard at the mysterious shadowy figure half hidden in the shadows who used her ankle as an anchor to drag himself over to her. She kicked, and he slid back away from her.

She struggled to her knees trying to get to her feet as she turned her attention to unbinding her arms. However, as she was halfway there, she caught the sound of rough breathing from behind. She spun and caught a glimpse of amber eyes from beneath a black cowl as he came into the light of the window and saw the small scar over his lips.

"Ishan…"

She gasped as Ishan gave her a cold smile.

There was a moment's silence as she caught her breath, looking him up and down.

When she'd first seen him back at Yellowstone, she thought she'd been dreaming or was extremely delirious from the blood loss.

The face was the same, catlike eyes, the scar, the dark locks everything. Except it could not be. He was taller much taller than she remembered, lean and muscled with a lithe physique. There was no mistaking the black stealth suit he wore, and the red Chess Knight emblazoned on his chest.

"Hello Christine," he said.

"W _hat is going on?_ "

_"_ _Christine, can you hear us?"_

Robin's and Aqualad's voices both sounded very worried as they both called out her name in her ear. But she was too distracted by her shock to hear either of their words as Ishan smirked.

"Wow, the girl wonder is speechless. That's a first."

"What are you doing here Ishan?" she growled.

"What do you think? I was looking for you" Ishan's smile softened, though his amber eyes glimmered with an eerie light as he reached out with a steady hand.

"Don't!" Swift backed away from his hand, fear gripping her as she caught sight of a dagger holstered onto his belt. The view of it so close to his free hand made her blood chill in her veins.

"Shh…it's okay" he hushed her his fingers stroking the portion of her ninja's mouth out of the way tenderly. "I won't hurt you again. I'm here to help."

"Help? Like how you tried to  _help_  me at Yellowstone?" she spat swiping his hand away.

"I was only following your mother's orders" Ishan answered, his voice measured and calculated like every step he took. "But my mission has changed since then."

He held out his hand palm up towards her.

"Come with me. Join me in the Hand of Eight. You don't have to rely on those  ** _Justice Leaguers_**  and their silly little  ** _sidekicks_**  anymore."

"Those  _little sidekicks_  are my friends, and the league is my family." Swift snarled, hands clenching into fists by her sides.

"For now." Ishan sneered "But I wonder what would happen if they found out about  _what_ you are…and  **who**  created you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she gulped, fear gripping her heart even tighter than before as it hammered uneasily against her ribcage.

"Oh please, did you not think we wouldn't notice the  _family resemblance_? Speaking of which," Ishan's eyes flashed wickedly "I love the new look. Though those wings aren't very bat-like, are they? If anything, they make you look more like a-what was that again? An  _Owl?_ " he stared directly into the eyes of her mask.

 _No. No way. There's no way in hell-How does he know?! T_ he white slits of Swift's cowl widened in terror as the Batman growled into her ear.

_"_ _Swift, what is he talking about?"_

"So. You haven't told him yet?" Ishan smirked as he pressed his advantage and stepped into her bubble "It's no matter. Once they know, they'll dump you aside anyway. But not me Christine. I'll protect you. I'd die-I'd  _kill_  to keep you safe. I'd love you, give you the entire world-"

"No Ishan" Swift shook her head and backed away. "No."

"Why not?" Ishan's eyes narrowed with hurt and anger "Is it that boy? That  _Kaldur'ahm_?"

Swift could tell that even though his voice was calm, he was positively desperate to spit out the name with venom.

"So that's it then…I'm out of the picture for a few years and you forget about everything we had and go for the fish of the day! Tch! Perhaps I should've done away with  _him,_  first shouldn't I?"

But he faltered as she shook her head still backing away from him with wide eyes.

"You're insane…" she breathed anguish and grief both mingling with the anger and fear in a toxic pool deep in her gut. "The Ishan I knew would never talk like this, and he would never hurt people, especially those he loved, on anyone's orders. You're not the boy who'd carry me when I'd get a scrape on the knee or tell me the stories about the constellations. You're  _not_ the boy I cared about, _y_ ou're just the monster my mother dressed in his skin."

" _Yikes._ " she heard Robin gulp in her ear, but she paid it no heed.

Ishan's glare had become positively deadly.

"I'm sorry Christine, but this is me whether you like it or not."

Swift gulped as he took a menacing step forwards the sound reverberating on the dark fortress floor.

"And I'm not going to let you go this time. Not when I have the power and means to win you back!"

"I'm not your prize. I belong to no one" Swift straightened up trying to sound like her usual proud, heroic self, though she could feel her façade slipping as she saw him smirk.

It was a dark thing. An evil thing. More frightening than a look of rage.

"You say that now…" He licked his lips. "But I'll make you see things my way."

"Not bloody likely" her eyes narrowed.

 _"_ _Swift get out of there. Regroup now!"_ Batman barked in her ear, though she could hear the waver of fear lacing his gruff voice.

_Time to disappear_

In a quick motion Swift flung down a smoke pellet at her feet engulfing her form in dark smoke.

"AH!"

She looked down through the clearing smoke and saw that Ishan had taken a dive and grabbed her ankle tightly again with both hands positioned on either side.

Her eyes widened, and she kicked at him again, but he dodged quickly, and when she pulled her free leg up to prepare for another strike, he gave her ankle a sharp twist.

"AHHHHHHH!" she cried out as her ankle twisted painfully. She could almost feel the bone beginning to fragment as it bent out of shape.

" _SWIFT_!"

"You bastard!" Swift shrieked, kicking out in pain and terror as Ishan's hands deftly grabbed her other leg. She struggled wildly against him, but he was too strong.

"Alpha squad! Backup NOW-AH!"

There was another shriek of agony as he twisted her other ankle painfully. He was careful not to break it, but it was enough to keep her from moving away fast.

" _We're coming, Swift_!" Batman yelled loudly.

" _Batman look out!_ " Aquaman yelled. There were several bangs and crashes and small pops of static as something hit the com in Batman's ear on the other end disrupting the signal.

"DAD!"

"Don't bother struggling Christine. It'll all be over soon" Ishan smirked as he moved to sit astride her lower back to stop her from rolling over to her back. He grabbed both her flailing hands and brought them behind her back, tying them tightly in a long slim cord.

Swift snarled still writhing beneath him as he ripped off her headgear with one hand while the other caressed her curves along their sides.

"You're beautiful."

"Let me go!"

" _Swift! Swift! We're almost there hold on!_ " Robin called through the com, sounding terrified.

Ishan's eyes narrowed at the sound.

"Oh, and your chum the boy wonder is here too. But no matter." his fingers swept her long white hair aside to reveal her pale neck, where the little black zip of her uniform was. "He and your boyfriend won't even be breathing by the time I'm through with them."

"Wait-What are you doing?" Swift breathed, tears streaming as he moved and leaned down to softly press his lips to the back of her neck as he began to pull down the zip.

"Savouring the moment," he kissed the crook of her neck. "And marking what's mine."

"No-let go-Aah!" she cried out as he bit down hard into the soft skin of her flesh.

This was worse than being stabbed. Ten times worse. Knives she could deal with, she was used to handling weapons and the people that carried them. But this, having his lips on her skin and his teeth digging into her flesh-

"Stop it! Stop! GET OFF ME!"

She yelled as, slowly, tantalizingly, his lips suckled on the spot he had bitten as he continued to unzip her uniform. Goosebumps formed where the skin met cold air, only to burn as his hot touch caressed the skin of her lower back-

**BOOM!**

Christine shrieked with terror as the tower shook as somewhere below a wall blasted open, making the entire fortress shake.

"Aquaman, Aqualad try to shut down the pylon, Flash check the left side. Robin and I will take the right."

Batman's gruff voice sounded so terrifying and so horrific that it would've probably sent a pack of savage wolves running for the hills. But to Swift at that moment the sound was one of the most amazing thing's she'd ever heard in her life.

Then she suddenly felt Ishan's hand wrap back around her mouth from behind and pull her up into a kneeling position on the floor. Something pressed into the small of her back.

"I won't kill you," Ishan said softly in her ear as he pushed the gun closer so that she could feel the cold metal tip against her skin "I've waited too long to have you. You'll feel pain, but you won't die. But I won't let that fish boy, have you. He does not deserve you."

He flicked his tongue against the shell of her ear.

She scrunched up her eyes tight as she struggled, tapping the buckle of her belt to activate the silent homing beacon as she was dragged up to her twisted feet and along the railing.

_Guys! Hurry!_

* * *

Batman and Robin were still on the fourth floor, running as fast as both their legs could carry them to the next vantage point from where they could grapple gun their way up.

"Batman!" Robin called from the stairs as his Holo-computer caught onto a distress signal.

"I know, keep going" Batman called as the same distress signal reached him.

He couldn't hear her through the com any more. His heart was racing in his chest as the most horrific images flashed over his mind's eye. Her body lying dead on the floor in a pool of her blood was the most prominent one so far. He shook his head to clear it.

_No! Keep focused! Focused! I've got to keep it together._

He couldn't help but remember her terrified shrieks as she called out for her attacker to stop. Oh god! He thought that hearing about her almost dying was terrible, but this was worse, ten times worse because if he didn't reach her in time….

He pushed his legs harder and went into a sprint, pulling out his grapple gun from his utility belt.

He shot it again and hit it high. He saw Robin up ahead soaring in the sky and somersaulting onto the same landing. He caught sight of the boy's face and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He'd never seen Robin looking so terrified in his life.

He could hear struggling a few floors up and checked his holo-computer on his wrist.

A purple dot on it was moving above their heads, matching the direction he could hear the struggling.

_That a girl Christine! Keep fighting. We're almost there._

Batman's heart soared. He didn't need to hear Robin's smirk of relief as someone thudded down to run beside him.

It was Aqualad. He had launched himself with his water bearers up several floors at a time, leaving Flash to help Aquaman disable the pylon below at the console that ran it.

The young Atlantean's eyes were a blaze of pale green fire as he came level with the Boy Wonder, who was quick to show him the holo-map.

_Thank goodness she's still alright enough to fight back._

Aqualad sighed in relief as they heard the thuds of hits landing on flesh.

_BANG!_

A gunshot fired, making both boys' guts all but freeze in their veins. It was short lived as they caught sight of a dark hand knocking what looked like a small firearm flying over the edge of the railing above and down into the depths of the fortress.

"Swift!" they called as a petite figure with white hair tried to leap up onto the railing only to be dragged back by a long arm looping around her neck in a headlock.

Another thundering of feet and Batman came between the two boys, a streak of darkness between the two white figures.

One more floor to go. Batman, Robin and Aqualad slowed down the pace to a quiet glide as the sounds of scuffling hit their ears.

"Christine" the deep voice of a man hissed "how can we move to safety if you won't stay still."

There was a muffled splutter. Batman held out a hand, and the two boys stopped. He looked up above them.

Through the dim light, they saw the shadows of two people on top of them on the metal stairs. Both were kneeling, but one was slimmer and smaller than the other.

"Let me go!"

Swift choked and gasped as she tried her best to tear her captor's arm from around her throat. There was a flash of silver as Ishan quickly took out a dagger from his belt and held it up to her throat. She stilled at once, trembling like a frightened rabbit as he pressed the tip of the blade between her ribs.

"That's it. Stay very still, or I'll slice that pretty skin of yours."

Batman ignored the first impulse to jump and just beat the shit out of the man because he knew that if he went in guns a blazing, she might get caught in the crossfire. Instead, he turned back to Aqualad and Robin and gestured to the Atlantean first.

He gave one nod to the water bearers in his hands before pointing towards the longer pair of legs above.

Aqualad nodded once in understanding and silently stalked till he was right underneath Ishan's legs.

Batman looked at Robin and nodded at the pair of legs that were Swift's before gesturing to himself and then back to Ishan. Robin's translation in his head.

_Get her away from him before I pummel him to hell and back._

They positioned themselves at the stairs in the shadows as Batman held up his fingers.

_Five…_

"Your friends aren't coming for you Christine."

_Four…_

"Not if I can help it."

_Three…_

"You're mine now and always."

_Two…_

"And nothing is nothing is going to stop that."

_One…_

"Nothing"

_Zero!_

Aqualad flicked his water bearers upwards, and the water passed through the grated metal floor wrapping around Ishan's legs.

"What the-" Ishan struggled as the water looped over his ankles in rings.

Swift gasped almost laughing with relief when-

"Get off her jackass!"

Swift ducked as Robin's fist collided with Ishan's face. He reeled backwards, Aqualad's water bearers holding his legs in place while the Boy Wonder grabbed at his partner.

"My ankles!" Swift gasped between sobs as Robin tried pulling her up to her feet.

Something grabbed at her legs again, and Robin ducked as- **BANG!**

The gunshot from the second hidden firearm missed the top of his head by inches. Ishan prepped the next shot, only for a dark fist to grab him by the hair from behind. With a hard shove, Aqualad slammed his face into the metal floor, relishing as he felt the bones in his enemy's nose crack from the force.

_Holy crap-Kal?!_

Eyes wide with shock, Robin dragged his partner away towards the wall holding her close as Ishan struggled to his feet. His face was bleeding from where his nose had shattered, but his eyes were still blazing with anger.

"You must be  _Kaldur'ahm_ " he spat as he wiped his bloodied nose "I must say it's a real  _pleasure_  to meet you face to face finally."

"I wish I could say the same about you." Aqualad snarled "But then I'd be lying."

"Ha! Funny." Ishan sneered snatching up his dagger from the floor before arming himself with the second one from his belt. "What say you, Christine? Shall I gut this fish or what?"

He lunged towards his opponent daggers raised, just as Aqualad readied his water-bearers into two blades. There was an almighty clang as the weapons clashed, each one crackling as the Atlantean's eel tattoos glowed and sparked dangerously in his fury.

"KAL!" Swift jerked against Robin's hold as Red Knight's small weapon managed to slip past his defences and land a slice on the side of Aqualad's shoulder, staining the white stealth uniform with red.

With a roar and a flash of lighting from his tattoos, Kaldur leapt upon Ishan, flinging the knife aside with one hand while the other struck him in the gut. Repeatedly, he punched, his hits becoming less controlled with every swipe.

Robin stared at the fight, stunned. He'd never seen Kaldur fight like this before. Gone was the calm, collected, composed warrior. He was frenzied, ruthless, feral, almost like how Superboy was when they first met him.

The Boy Wonder was so shocked; he didn't even notice his partner slip from his grip as she rushed into the fray.

"KALDUR STOP! HE'S HAD ENOUGH!" Swift tried grabbing at the tattooed back only to leap back as an electric charge almost shocked her.

"Swift get back-" Robin tried pulling her back, only to get shoved back into the railing by a dark hand.

Everything froze as Batman stepped onto the platform. Even Aqualad stilled where he stood. His webbed hand clenched around the neck of his opponent while the other was still raised in a fist to punch his lights out.

"ENOUGH!"

At the sound of the booming command, Aqualad looked up, the black shadow of the bat suddenly piercing his vision through the red mist.

If looks could kill, Batman would have caused a massacre. His hands were gripped like vices making the veins and muscles in his massive arms bulge out strongly. His jaw was set in a bestial growl, and the white slits of the cowl were narrowed so much that the permanent scowl in the mask looked as terrifying as a demon's face.

"Kal, let him go." Swift's voice trembled as she grabbed Aqualad's hands and pulled him off Ishan, who fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

The Red Knight glared up at the dark knight defiantly and tried pushing his hands down to the ground to spring into a flip. Batman, however, was too fast.

**_KATHWAK!_ **

The black-gloved fist's hit was hard and fast, but not enough to knock Ishan out. He looked up at the dark knight through a veil of blood from a cut over his eye.

**_KATHWAK! KATHWAK! KATHWAK!_ **

Three more hits. One in the guts and two to the jaw, one of which knocked the hood of Ishan's uniform back and sent blood splattering over his face as magnificent bruises began blossoming in purple and black spots over the damaged areas.

Batman grabbed the younger man by the roots of his hair to force him to look up at his face.

He didn't even get startled as Ishan derisively spat out a mouthful of blood onto his uniform's insignia.

Batman's eyes narrowed as he saw the amber one's glint with fiery fury, before smirking.

"Well, I will admit you are full of surprises. But do you honestly think that you have what it takes? If it were me, I'd be breaking my neck to keep her safe."

The movement was so fast that even Robin with his experience barely saw it. One moment Ishan was on his knees, and the next the side of his face was slammed into the floor.

"Keep talking about my goddaughter like that, and I'll really break your neck!"

Batman snarled venomously as he held the Red Knight's neck with one hand and his arms in the other behind his back, in which the dark knight's knee was firmly lodged, keeping him in place.

Batman growled low digging his clawed gloves into the man's neck making him sputter and choke as he tried to hold back the deadly veil of red that was his rage, from clouding his vision.

"Batman! We've rigged the fortress to self-destruct in five minutes!" Flash called over the comlink.

"Robin, Aqualad get Swift and yourselves out and go to the Batwing now!" Batman hissed.

"What about you?" Robin asked.

"I'll deal with this bastard. Now GO!" Batman roared.

The three young heroes didn't need to be told twice. Aqualad was quick to catch Swift as she stumbled to her aching twisted feet and lifted her up into his arms.

"Robin, get the Batwing ready. Now!" he growled as both he and the Boy Wonder started running down the steps.

After a couple of minutes of running and typing, Robin finally yelled.

"Got her ready! She's outside the area where we blasted through."

"How much longer till the place blows" Swift sniffed in pain, wincing as both her ankles were jerked around with each stride.

"Three minutes and fifty-six seconds" Robin called.

"We're going to have to jump to the ground floor!" Aqualad called out, but Swift shook her head shakily.

"I've still got my wings-"

"No, you can't risk landing when your legs are twisted like that" Robin scowled.

"Then take my grapple gun, it should easily hold both of us." she shoved her grapple gun into Aqualad's hand.

"Hold on then" he gripped the device tight in his hand as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

The three of them zoomed down on the catwalk, Robin the first to launch into the air, followed closely by his team leader and partner who shut her eyes as she held on tight for dear life.

Thankfully they reached the ground floor within a few moments just as Aquaman and Flash came running back from the computers.

"Where's Batman?" Aquaman called out to them worriedly.

"He's still working some stuff out" Robin called his face a mask of rage.

"WHAT!" Flash cried out in horror and looked back at the computer where a countdown was ticking down on the screen. "This place is gonna go in two minutes thirty-eight seconds."

"Then help him get out" Swift heaved down a breath as she swallowed down a cry of pain. Her ankles were throbbing so badly.

_Dad, please! Leave Ishan and get out!_

"You can't kill me" Ishan choked down a hollow laugh as Batman pulled his leg back from the harsh kick to the gut "Not if you want to break your code of honour."

"I won't kill you" Batman growled clicking the younger man's hands and legs together with a pair of handcuffs each "But I don't have to save you either."

He stood up just as Flash zoomed up.

"Come on Bats we gotta go! The whole place is gonna blow in a minute."

Batman scowled but allowed Flash to grab him by the arm and zoom them both down the stairs.

"You won't be able to keep her forever Batman!" Ishan's roars of anger echoed around the Fortress. "Can't you see? She's already slipping out of your grasp! And you won't see it till it's too late."

_Not if I have anything to say about it._

Batman growled in his head as he and Flash sped up the Batwing's ramp.

As soon as they'd stopped and strapped into the plane, Robin put the pedal to the metal at once. Up the Batwing went, above the clouds and over the snow-covered world beneath, but still not further away enough to escape the blast radius.

"Robin" Aqualad said in a warning voice.

"I'm trying just-Argh! It's stuck!" Robin grunted as he tried forcing on a jammed lever.

"Don't force it" Batman barked from his seat.

"Oh, move over!" Swift lunged out of Aqualad's arms for the lever. There was a grunt, a push, and suddenly the lever slid down to the maximum setting.

"Woah!" Robin yelled, clutching onto his seat for dear life as the whole plane accelerated at full throttle.

"Brace yourselves!" Swift cried out as she clambered over his lap and reached for the steering.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

The fortress suddenly began erupting from four different points along each of the structure.

_Almost there! Come on!_

Swift gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tight as she forced her mind with all her might to focus on the lever and not the pain.

There was a deep KABOOM in the distance.

….

Batman pulled up a holo-screen with a feed from the Watchtower to see a large dark plume of smoke where the Ice Fortress once flew.

"Oh, thank god!" Swift breathed and sank back in her chair putting her face in her hands as Robin and Flash both whooped with joy.

There was a faint sigh from beside her as Aqualad crawled to his feet from where he had fallen on the ground.

"Well done" Aquaman put a hand on his protégé's shoulder proudly as he helped him to his feet.

"Agreed" Batman gave a huge sigh as he took over the plane's controls again and levelled her out, slowing her speed back down to normal. "Alpha squad to Watchtower. Ice Fortress 1 is destroyed. All other units report your status" he muttered into the com in his cowl.

"Ow…" Swift as she prized herself off Robin's lap and sunk to the floor. Her ankles were aching, and her neck throbbed from where it had been bitten.

"Christine"

Aqualad knelt beside her; his face drained as the adrenaline flooded out of his system. He reached out with a shaking bruised hand to the crescent-shaped mark on her neck.

It was already turning dark, with a couple of spots of blood from where the teeth had punctured her skin. She hissed, flinching away as his fingers traced the mark.

"Sorry" she whispered, quickly glancing down at his shoulder.

"You're bleeding" She could see a nasty cut bleeding from where the Red Knight's dagger had struck.

"It's just a scratch" Aqualad muttered cursing softly in Atlantean under his breath as he examined his injury.

"You better let me have a look at that. Barry, first aid kit to the right" Swift called to Flash who zipped over in a second carrying a medical box.

"Christine it's alright I can manage" Aqualad tried to stand only to have Aquaman push him back down to the ground.

"Sit and rest Kaldur'ahm. You need it. You both do." the King of the Seas, smiled comfortingly to the two teens before quietly making his way over to the back of the plane to check on Barry.

There was silence as the Atlantean let the girl wonder quietly patch up his wound. Thankfully the cut wasn't deep, though it still stung when she applied alcohol to clean it.

"Sorry" she apologised again, blushing as she realised she was almost leaning against his chest in her attempt to wrap the gauze around it. "There. You're lucky this won't need stitches."

She leaned back to admire her handiwork, only to notice Kaldur's downcast face as he stared at the bite on her neck.

He could still feel the anger coursing through his veins, boiling every nerve in his body. He couldn't believe he had lost control like that. He was the protégé of his king; he couldn't afford to let his temper break so severely that he would risk killing someone, enemy or not.

But hearing her yells of fear in his ears, and seeing that other young man's hands all over her-

He stiffened as he felt a slender pair of arms loop around him and pull him close.

"It's okay Kal. It's okay." Swift murmured softly.

Despite himself, Aqualad relaxed into the embrace as he felt her lips kiss his bandaged shoulder gently.

From in front of them at the main cockpit, Batman glanced back at his goddaughter and her boyfriend. He supposed it could've been worse, he mused, scowl softening as he watched the pair of them comfort one another quietly. If there was one good thing this incident proved, the two of them clearly cared a great deal for one another and it wasn't just puppy love.

The Dark Knight scowled as he felt something sneak up behind him.

"Don't even think about it Barry" he snapped.

Flash's expression drooped at once as he lowered the small camera down.

_Damn! And that was such a nice shot!_

* * *

_**Mount Justice, November 13 2010, 12:19 EDT** _

Christine stared down at the book in her hands, barely even seeing the cover. She was in the Cave's library, doing her best to pick out a new book to read.

But so far nothing was catching her eye.

It had been two days since Red Knight's second attack at the Ice Fortress. The bite mark on her neck had yet to fully heal. She had tried to apply her stage makeup over the top of it but it was still very dark. Her ankles had been strapped up while they healed, but thankfully she was able to walk around and do things for herself.

She shivered as she remembered the malicious licentious look in Ishan's eye.

There was something wrong about him. Something off. It wasn't just the way he talked it was the way he moved, the way he reacted to everything around him.

Even when he was bruised and beaten by both Batman and Kaldur, he didn't seem to feel any of the pain.

_Could my mother have done something to him? Manipulated him like how Cadmus did mine?_

She shivered as she remembered the way his hands had moved over her waist and back.

Her body was such a private sacred place to herself. Only those she trusted implicitly ever got to touch her and even then, she was picky. To have her flesh touched so intimately against her will…she had never felt so violated.

_If only I had been stronger, I could've fought him off. Instead, I became the damsel in distress._

She thought bitterly as she thought back to how she had barely managed to struggle against Ishan's hold. True she had disarmed his gun, but she still failed in her mission to disable the pylon.

"Good book?" a pale hand clapped down on her shoulder.

Christine almost leapt out of her skin as she wheeled around her raising the book in her hands to strike.

"WHOA! WHOA! Easy there Girl Wonder!" a red-haired, green-eyed, freckle-faced teenage boy cried out in alarm as he caught the fist with his super-fast reflexes.

"Wally?! Don't sneak up on me like that! I almost smashed your face in." Christine groaned in relief as she lowered her arms.

"Hey, how was I to know you'd go all crouching tiger hidden swift on me?" Wally West carefully prized the book out of her hands and put it back on the shelf.

"So, how did your mission go? Did you get the heart to the Princess Perdita on time?" Christine sighed as she leaned back against the nearest shelf.

"Yeah. She's making a full recovery at the hospital." Wally's face softened as he glanced down at the bruise on her neck. "Speaking of recovery, Dick told me about what happened at the Ice Fortress with Ishan."

"Oh yeah…that…" Christine muttered, not quite meeting his eye as she tried hiding the mark behind her hair.

"I saw Kaldur just now as I got in," Wally muttered folding his arms. "He looks down."

"You should've seen him at the fortress" Christine shivered "He lost his shit, I don't think I've ever seen him that mad."

"Yeah well, I can't blame him." Wally snorted darkly "If some jerk tried to molest and kill my girlfriend, I'd probably do the same."

The speedster paused as he spared a look for his best female friend.

He had never seen her looking so rattled before. Her entire body seemed to be on edge even as he stepped towards her.

"How are you holding up?"

"Okay, I guess." She shrugged looking down at the ground.

"No, you're not" Wally quirked a brow "You're pissed-"

"Of course, I'm pissed!" She snapped waspishly glaring up at him with her fierce yellow eyes "I screwed up Wally! I let some bastard get under my skin and almost crumbled to pieces because of it; I've almost died three times in the past month because I couldn't fend for myself and I could've put so many other lives in danger because of it!" She folded her arms and looked away cheeks burning with shame as she muttered. "I can't believe I've gotten so weak."

"You aren't weak." Wally gently patted her arm "Chris you're still fourteen. You can't expect to be able to handle everything thrown at you."

"But I have to Wally. Don't you get it." She groaned pinching her nose "I'm the protégé of the Batman. I can't afford screw things up like this, especially not in Gotham. If I can't handle myself here, how on earth will I deal with the crazies there? They'll eat me alive for breakfast!"

"Hey, hey, cool down, no one's going to eat anyone here." Wally grabbed her shoulders firmly. "Listen, everything's going to be okay. You're just going through a rough patch that's all. With a bit of rest and a bit of training, and some of Alfred's food I'm sure you'll be beating that asshole in no time."

"I guess" Christine huffed "Sorry. I didn't mean to lump this all on you."

"Its okay, besides it's better than leaving you to brood in the dark like your dad," Wally smirked and was pleased when she chuckled.

"Well, when you put it that way-Wait what's that?" she pointed to the shoulder of his yellow turtleneck where she could see a red strap attached to a metal box.

"Souvenir" he grinned, showing the box off and Christine saw the red medical symbol on the back. "Was gonna put it on the shelf."

"Good idea, but didn't the princess offer you Vertigo's sword?" she smirked, and he nodded excitedly as they walked out of the rows of shelves and towards the souvenir shelf next door.

"Yeah. The sword was cool, but this just seemed like the right souvenir for the right mission" Wally placed the bag on the shelf, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he looked down at it. Something was still not quite-

"Here" Christine reached out and tweaked it a little bit to the right.

"Perfect" he grinned and the two of them fist bumped just as two people poked their heads in through the door.

It was Kaldur and Dick, the latter of which strode up to his best friend excitedly with a wide grin while the former stood in the doorway.

"I'll see you later. Thanks, Walls." Christine nudged Wally's shoulder as she made her way over to Kaldur.

"Dude, I just heard. You just saved an entire country, major kudos!" Dick hi-fived the speedster whose grin widened.

"What can I say? I'm the man!"

_Those two._

Christine smiled as she leaned up to kiss Kaldur's high cheekbone.

"You're wet" she blinked as her hand slid down a smooth damp arm.

"I went for a swim" he smirked tenderly as they quietly left the library holding hands "You're looking better"

"I feel better" Christine admitted smiling as she heard Wally and Dick both laughing and cackling loudly at a joke behind them.

_Papa was right. I am lucky I've got such great friends._

_But will that be enough to get you through in the future? What if having friends isn't enough. You need to get stronger…just like Grandpapa said..._

She sighed as she turned back to Kaldur, only to find his face downcast.

"I am sorry I've been so distant this past couple of days," he mumbled "A lot has been on my mind since…well…" he his grip on her hand tightened a little.

"I know. Me too." She snorted, remembering all too clearly how frightened she'd been when Wally snuck up on her.

No matter how much she tried to shake it off she still was jumpy around everyone that caught her unawares. Twice she'd almost thrown knives at M'gann when she was bouncing around loudly in the kitchen, and she had floored Artemis yesterday during sparring after the latter tried to grab her from behind.

She could only imagine how Kaldur was feeling after snapping as badly as he had done.

"Christine?"

"Hmm?" Christine looked back up at Kaldur as they came to a stop in the middle of the corridor. He looked very anxious.

"About Ishan…"

"Yes?"

"You don't still, have feelings for him…do you?"

Christine scratched the back of her neck. She'd almost forgotten that all Alpha squad had heard her over her com.

"Kal I'd be lying if I said I didn't, have a teeny-tiny crush on him, y'know when I was a kid." She mumbled choosing to stare at his chest instead of his face.

"And now?" Kaldur prompted, looping his arms around her waist.

"I honestly don't know." She glanced down at the ground "I mean, I don't love him anymore if that's what you mean, but something about him just doesn't feel right. If you knew Ishan as I did two years ago you would understand. I get that people can change but surely they'd still retain something of who they were before."

"You think he's been manipulated?" Kaldur murmured and she nodded.

"There's no other way to explain it. Unless it's not Ishan and someone else is using him as a host, or he's a warped clone of some kind. I don't know." She shook her head out, like a horse trying to get rid of flies. "Sorry, I know I sound completely crazy-"

"No, not at all" the corners of Kaldur's mouth twitched upwards in a small smile down at her. "You have a big heart, Christine. You always try to see the good in a situation and find a way out despite everything. It's one of the many strengths that I admire about you."

"There you go again with the one-liners, smooth talker" She smirked, yet still he seemed dejected.

She stood on her tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Kaldur, we all lose control sometimes. It's natural. We can't all be as stoic as Batman, and even he has to let off steam once in a while and let me tell you it ain't purdy."

"You mean to tell me that what we saw him do..." Kaldur gulped, remembering only too well the terrifying glower of the imposing black shadow. He was glad he was on the Leaguer's side, though he couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for those that weren't.

"Oh yeah he was pissed for sure" Christine shrugged nonchalantly "But trust me I've seen worse"

"Worse than that?" Kaldur quirked a brow.

"Worse than that." she nodded, smirking as she caught sight of the slight trepidation in his pale eyes "Don't worry, if my godfather does lose his shirt with you for any reason, I'll protect you."

She winked and he chuckled warmly as he leaned in to kiss her, just as the rest of their team rounded the corner.

"Aww!" M'gann sighed dreamily as Artemis and Zatanna both giggled.

"Seriously, again?" Conner scowled, folding his arms fondly at the pair, Dick cackled, and Wally sniggered.

"Swift and Kaldur sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes kissing then come's marriage, then comes Kal pushing a baby-"

"WALLY!" Christine glared at him, blushing darkly as Kaldur snorted.

"Shall you hit him this time or shall I?" he muttered as Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry I got that bit covered" the Archer flicked her hand hard over the back of the speedster's head.

"Ow! Hey!" Wally grumbled with a pout as everyone laughed at his expense.

"Care to explain why everyone's assembled?" Christine shook her head and sighed at her friend's antics.

"Official mission debriefing for the whole team with Batman" Dick shrugged and both Kaldur and Christine nodded, quickly detaching from one another.

Downtime was over. It was time to get back to work.

* * *

_**Hallows Manor, November 16 2010, 19:49 EDT** _

Stuart Hallows Senior sat behind his desk, glowering at the door to his study.

It had been nearly seventeen days since he had offered his granddaughter his guidance. Seventeen days in which everything seemed to go wrong.

First, there was that terrible displacement spell that had separated them all into the children/adult subdimensions. Then his opponent Red Queen had sent her lackey once again to destroy and sully the youngest Hallows. Of course, he had failed in his mission but still, his appearance had complicated matters severely, both for him and his granddaughter.

_What to do, what to do?_

The Grandmaster of the Court of Owls glared as the shadows of two Talons strode into his office.

The first one, his son Stuart Hallows Junior, removed his mask quickly, sighing heavily as he approached the desk.

"You summoned us, father?"

"I did." the grandmaster clipped angrily as he swiped at his desk, summoning up a holographic interface "I've just received word that the one responsible for the attack at Yellowstone was none other than Ishan Shahzad"

Both Talon's stiffened as an image of a young man in the black and red Red-Knight costume appeared on the screen.

The grandmaster turned to the slightly shorter, junior Talon beside his son, yellow eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Care to explain why  _your_   ** _double_**  is running around working for our enemy boy?!"

There was a sigh as the second Talon took off his mask, revealing the shaven head of black hair, scarred lips and a pair of amber eyes.

"Red Queen must still have samples of my DNA on hand from when I worked for her." Ishan Shahzad replied stiffly, glaring at the picture of his doppelganger on the screen. They looked the same, apart from the hair and the manic smirk the Red Knight had plastered over his face.

"You said you had destroyed all her cloning specimens when I ordered you to destroy that lab nine months ago." The grandmaster snapped gripping his owl faced cane tight in his hand as he leapt to his feet.

"They must have more we don't know about" Stuart Junior raised his eyebrows coolly as he made to stand between his subordinate and his father. "Or perhaps this clone is older than the ones we found."

"I don't care how old he is, I want him disposed of. Him and all that witch's other little experiments." Stuart Senior snarled angrily at his son "We cannot have clones of our Talons running around interfering with our plans. Imagine the chaos that would bring to this organization. That flimsy copy has already almost killed this family's heir twice within the past two months."

"Understood sir" Stuart Junior nodded eyes blazing hotly as fury ignited in his guts.

Though he might not see eye to eye with his scheming father often, they both could agree they would kill before seeing young Christine Hallows dead on their watch.

He turned to the real Ishan beside him whose face had gone pale as chalk.

"He tried to kill Christine?"

"Yes. Twice." Stuart Senior sighed as he settled back in his chair, wincing as he clutched at his stiff back. "And both times she barely escaped with the help of her team."

He gripped his cane tighter in his hand as he stroked his chin.

"No wonder she refused my offer." He muttered darkly under his breath "We might've damaged the bond between herself and the Bat, but instead she grew closer to her other little sidekick friends…that's problematic…but not impossible to overcome."

He fell into silence, ignoring his son and his subordinate who both spared one another nervous glances as they watched their leaders face split into a small malicious smirk.

They'd seen that look only too often, and it didn't bode well for anyone.

Yet they steeled themselves as he spun his chair back to face them, his expression smug.

"Gentlemen, fetch me Sylas Alderwood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So lots happened in this chapter. Kaldur is coming to terms with his darker more ruthless side which he has long tried to suppress. It was interesting playing with his darker side as in Season one he was a little flat when it came down to personal conflict and growth, then you get to see him in season 2 playing the badass villain (sorta), and there's no explanation for how this happened! Christine as well is starting to question her abilities as she falls farther down the rabbit hole set by her grandfather. Good thing she has the team to keep her grounded, or will she?
> 
> On another note, the Red Knight is *shock, horror, gasp* A CLONE, whose mind is twisted by her mother's machinations! The real Ishan is the junior Talon to Swift's dad. How will this effect Christine when she finds out, O.O! You'll have to wait and keep reading and reviewing to find out ;)
> 
> Anyways cheers


	21. Images

_**Wayne Manor, November 22 2010, 03:56 EDT** _

Pain…it riddles her feet as she tries to turn over in bed. Even with the straps over both, the soreness still is there. A constant reminder of her horrific encounter.

She grimaces as she clings tighter to the plush toy owl in her arms. No matter what she has done over the past few hours to make herself comfortable, she still cannot sleep properly. It is only now that she is so tired enough to start dozing off.

There is a rattle from the windows as a shadow slips through the half-open window. It slinks through the night air, towards the bed.

Its hands are cold as it reaches down to its utility belt, golden owl goggles glinting in the moonlight.

The girl shivers as the shadow raises the blankets over her. She turns her head grumbling about someone stealing the sheets, though there is no one else in sight.

The figure bends down and carefully, slides the tip of the needle into her exposed thigh. She barely feels a thing as the strange purple fluid in the syringe swiftly disappears into her bloodstream.

Her expression relaxes and the shadow steps away from her, pocketing the syringe back in its utility belt. It reaches out with a clawed hand to the girl's snowy white locks stroking them briefly as she sighs into her pillow, still lost in the land of dreams.

The pain is leaving her ankles, slowly but surely. Bones are realigning and merging back into their original form.

She breathes deeply, finally able to drift into sleep as the pain finally fades. The wind blows away caressing her face gently as the shadow in the cowl silently and swiftly leaves through the open window, shutting it softly behind them.

The girl smiles as she manages to turn on her side and curl up into a ball twirling a lock of hair absently about one of her fingers. Just as she shuts her eyes, however, she tugs to pull out a knot. But she pulls out more than that.

Her eyes fly open with shock as the lock sticks to her fingers dull and dead.

In her horror, she runs her hands through her hair again and her breathing quickens as another large lock falls out.

She sits up panting.

"No…no! no no no no no!" she breathes as she combs her fingers through her hair which falls out with each and every swipe of her hand. Eventually, she stops running her hands through it all. But still, it keeps dropping.

She's now gasping in terror. She doesn't know what's happening or why. She turns to see her reflection in the mirror. All her hair is gone by now, leaving a shining bald head.

* * *

"Dad! Dad!" Christine called as she ran down the length of the hallway. She crashed open the door to the master bedroom only to find that it was empty.

"Dick!" she called turning around and ran past the storage room and into her boyfriend's room. It too was empty

"Shit! Shit! Where are you two?" she whimpered clapping a hand to her forehead as she tried to remember where they were.

_That's right…Catwoman was going to make a move on one of the jade cat statues at the museum…_

Christine ran down the stairs three at a time until she reached the old broken piano. She played a couple of out of tune keys in succession and bowled down the dark stairs.

She practically flew into the Batcave to see Alfred who was at the computer, typing in a command to analyse test sample data sent from the Batmobile.

"Alfred!" she cried out desperately.

He turned to scowl at the ruckus she made, only for his jaw to drop.

"Miss Christine?! how in the world-" he looked at her with dumbfounded amazement as he caught sight of her bald head.

"Oh, my word!"

Christine nodded through tears as the older man rushed towards her and ushered her down the rest of the stairs and seated her in the computer chair. "You just stay put. I'll get the medical scanner"

" _What's wrong Alfred?_ " Christine heard Batman's voice through the message. He sounded worried.

"I'll be right with you in a second Master Bruce. Now hold still please Miss Christine."

Christine nodded though she was still gushing like a river. A few moments later there were a couple of beeps and Alfred narrowed his eyes at the scanner screen

"Odd…" His moustache bristled as he pursed his lips shrewdly at the machine. "Nothing seems to be wrong." He then proceeded to the tray of evening snacks and essentials, usually reserved for whoever came back from patrol. From it, he took a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate which he handed to his younger charge who was shivering in fright as she curled up in a tiny ball in the large chair.

"Now young miss," he said gently as he placed the blanket over her shoulders "I know it's not pleasant, but can you tell me what happened? All of it from the beginning."

"I-I don't know what happened? One minute I was sleeping. The next something pinched my thigh, then my feet suddenly felt better and then all my hair started to fall out of my head and I don't know why?"

The last word came out as a wail of humiliation as the Bat computer's screen turned on with a video message from the Batmobile's front two seats.

As Batman and Robin both stared at her with wide masked eyes, she ducked under the blanket to hide her head.

" _Robin…Are you seeing what I'm seeing_?" Batman said taking off his cowl to reveal the shocked blue eyes that stared at his goddaughters now bald head.

" _I think so…_ " Dick tilted his head to the side. " _Man…I knew she was stressed out about the whole Ishan thing but still_ -"

"Ahem, gentlemen! I think the little miss is in enough distress without you both adding your two cents worth" Alfred clipped warningly as Christine's sobs increased dramatically.

" _Sorry…_ " Batman said, quickly pulling back his cowl over his face.

Robin looked down at the floor of the car. " _Chris…Are you ok?_ "

"Am I ok?!" Christine shrieked. "In one night I'm balder than bloody Lex Luthor! How do you think I feel?"

" _Alright! Alright! Calm down_ " Batman flinched at the sound and looked back up at his steering wheel with an expression that looked a bit too intense to be mere concentration as he tried to think of something else to talk about, " _You said your feet are better, didn't you_?"

Christine gulped down a sob and nodded. "Yeah…they're not twisted up anymore."

" _And apart from your sudden baldness, there's nothing else wrong is there_?" he gripped the handle of the steering wheel tighter.

"No…" Christine admitted "Everything else feels fine…I actually managed to run at full speed down here without tripping once"

" _I see…_ " Batman narrowed his eyes. To many people, this might have appeared to be a scary sign of anger, but Christine knew that it was merely his thinking face.

" _Christine, I want you to stay where you are. I'll run a couple of extra tests on you when we get back. And I'll run some more in the morning. But for now, just stay calm. Call us if anything else happens._ "

"Ok…" she sniffled.

" _Don't worry Chris we'll find out what's happening to you and find a way to help you control it._ " Robin gave her a tiny smile.

"You guys better" she mumbled hoarsely resting her forehead on her pulled up knees as Alfred patted her shoulder "I don't know how much more of these surprises I can take"

* * *

**_Mount Justice, November 22 2010, 10:06 EDT_ **

Batman had run all the tests he could using the best of the best medical machinery he owned, which just so happened to be some of the best on the planet. But still, they could not find anything to suggest that her body was physically unwell.

In fact, all the scans showed that she was in the bloom of health. Her ankles even were completely healed as if they weren't even touched, with all signs of her previous fractures and breaks and dislocations (Hey she was a dancer and the dark knight's protégé, a lot could happen) completely removed. The scar on her stomach remained, but that bruise on her neck had almost disappeared too.

Swift sighed as she ran a hand over her head on top of which was covered very lightly in a thin layer of brown fuzz and sighed.

She couldn't believe her ears when Batman told her she was moulting. Moulting! Like a real bird! And to make it more embarrassing, there was a real possibility it might happen again in the future.

_It could be worse._

She supposed as she felt the top of her head. It had been a few hours since she'd moulted and already she had a small white fuzz dusting over her head. She was certain that by tomorrow afternoon it would be fully back to normal. Not that it really changed anything. She still felt mortified about showing off her head to anyone besides Robin and Batman and she shuddered to think of what would happen if someone like Wally caught sight of her near-bald state.

He'd never let her rest with the bald jokes.

And Kaldur, what the hell would he think if he saw her like this? She thanked her lucky stars that her boyfriend was on a mission with Aquaman in the South China Sea. She'd be mortified if ever he saw her in this state.

**_Robin, Swift, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian. Report for mission briefing._ **

She looked up at the door as she quickly slipped her cowl and masks over her face.

Time to get to work.

Swift met Robin in the corridor, avoiding his gaze deliberately as he smirked at her in amusement. Of course, he found her sudden shedding hilarious once he'd gotten over the shock.

"How does it look now" He grinned.

"It's growing back a little…but still…it's irritating" she scowled grumpily scratching at her itching scalp. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you this morning. I just…panicked.

"Hey, it's ok" Robin chuckled bumping his shoulder with hers. "To be honest, I'd freak out too if I'd lost all my hair mysteriously in one go."

"And that's the other thing that worries me." Swift bit her lip "Why did it happen?"

"Uh…stress?" Robin suggested lightly "or…you're getting old real fas-ow!" he cried out as she slapped him on the back of the head.

"Idiot!"

They both stepped out into the main hall where Kid and Superboy were standing in front of Batman. The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes slightly at his protégé's who both grinned somewhat sheepishly as they took their spots, followed closely by Miss Martian.

As soon as they were in place, several holographic images popped up behind Batman.

"Rumann Harjavti is the democratically elected president of Qurac. Harjavti has been praised as a fair, wise leader. A humanitarian."

Swift snorted as another screen came forth showing a news broadcast of Harjavti shaking hands with her mentor's alter ego.

_Yeah because that footage is totally coincidental._

Her thoughts seemed to be shared by Kid Flash who leaned over to hiss in Robin's ear.

"Sure, any friend of Bruce Wayne's is-OW" he winced as both birds elbowed his sides as Batman continued talking another holographic screen appearing.

"But five days ago, Harjavti allied himself with the dictator of the neighbouring nation of Bialya. Queen Bee"

"Not a fan" Superboy folded his arms scowling. The memory of their last trip to Bialya was obviously still sore in his mind.

"Few are" Swift narrowed her eyes as she assessed the dark-haired, exotic beauty on the screen. "And for good reason"

Batman nodded in agreement. "But recently Harjavti has suddenly chosen to back Queen Bee's baseless claim that Qurac and Bialya were once one nation in ancient times. And has announced the countries will reunify in two days at a ceremony in Qurac."

Swift's eyes narrowed even further as she watched the two screens merge into one video screen and playback a GBS newscast from the day before.

" _After the ceremony, I will step down as President so that our rightful monarch Queen Bee can rule_."

The video cut quickly to a snippet of Queen Bee's speech.

" _I applaud President Harjavti for unifying our peoples. And I will gladly come to Qurac to be crowned_ _ **sole**_ _leader of our nations_."

"Could she get any faker" Robin muttered.

"I wouldn't put it past her" Swift folded her arms just as Kid Flash stepped forwards with a cry.

"And the Quracies are OK with this?"

"Hardly" Batman shook his head as images of protestors in Qurac now flashed over the screen.

Swift's hands clenched as she saw the child in the foreground looking around with fear as he clutched onto his mother's side.

"They are well aware of the brutality of Queen Bee's regime. But Harjavti has censored the press, silenced all legitimate protest and invited the Biaylian military into his country to enforce martial law.

"This is so wrong" Swift shook her head. "Harjavti hates to use the military. He's usually the kind of guy that works with negotiations and words and will only use force if necessary. The only reason I can think of him doing something so out of character like this is-"

"-if Queen Bee is controlling him" Robin nodded as he caught onto her train of thought "Doesn't she have the power to enthral most men?"

"And some women." Batman agreed "but not long distance. And we have confirmation that she hasn't left Bialya. Something else is at work here. Find out what. Robin, you're the team leader."

"What?" Robin and Swift both gasped in surprise.

"Promotion? Sweet" Kid held up a hand for a high five, which Robin left hanging as he stepped forwards.

"What about Aqualad or Swift?"

"Aqualad is busy helping Aquaman and Swift…" Batman paused looking at Swift who folded her arms as everyone turned to her expecting an answer.

"Honestly guys I'm not feeling too crash hot at the moment." She sighed

"Why what's wrong?" Superboy looked worriedly down at her.

"Just…personal issues…I don't want it getting in the way of my decision-making skills. Besides Kaldur and I can't hog all the fun" She shrugged.

Everyone just stared at her in confusion except for Kid Flash who was still hanging up his high five for Robin. She shook her head in exasperation.

"Robin, I think you need to look at Kid for a moment."

"Great" Robin turned and glowered at Kid who looked slightly confused.

"Dude you totally left me hanging."

Swift sighed

* * *

_**Qurac, November 22, 23:56 UTC +2** _

"We're right above the Quraci-Bialyan border" Robin stated as they flew over the large terrain of wide open grasslands.

"A border the Bialyans are in the process of ignoring" Kid Flash scowled.

Swift looked down and saw multiple tanks begin to tear through a wire fence heading straight for a herd of grazing wildebeest.

"Poor things" Miss Martian sighed softly as the animals scattered hither and thither away from the tanks.

"No opposition" Swift said as she began a scan of the perimeter.

"Guess Harjavti is in bed with Bialya" Superboy agreed as he scanned the tanks, pulling up a picture of the yellow and black flag on their bonnets.

"Then again you wouldn't expect opposition here" Swift narrowed her eyes.

"Why not?" Kid Flash asked in surprise as he pulled down his infrared goggles to see in the dark outside.

"Because it's an animal sanctuary," Robin said pulling up a map on his holo-computer.

"The  _Logan_  Animal Sanctuary?" Miss Martian cried out excitedly.

"You've heard of it?" Robin and Swift exchanged quick glances before looking up at her. She blushed a little from embarrassment.

"Guys!" Kid called "the tanks have caused a stampede. There are civilians in harm's way!"

"Where?" Swift began typing furiously to scan the ground.

"I see them." Superboy said as he peered out the window. "a woman and a small boy"

"I got them on my scanners too…seems like the stampede's gonna hit them soon" Swift announced, and Miss Martian gasped.

"we have to help them!"

"We're way off mission here" Robin groaned. Swift raised a masked brow at her partner who caught the look and scowled.

"Deploy. But stealth mode. If the Bialyan's know we hit them, this becomes an international incident."

Everyone nodded.

Swift unbuckled her seatbelt and leapt through the hole Miss Martian opened a hole in the floor.

"Alright, we have five armoured tanks with armoured soldiers each manning them." She reported into her com as she released her mechanical wings and glided along a breeze.

" _And the stampede_?" Miss Martian asked worriedly.

"Still headed for the civilians," Swift said grimly. "I think a plan would be in order Wonder Boy"

" _Alright, Swift, you Kid and I will handle the tanks. Miss Martian, Superboy the civilians. Let's go_!" Robin barked into his comlink.

Swift nodded as she saw the smallest streaks of darkness zip down past her as Robin and Kid Flash dropped down with their lines.

She looked down at the tanks and pulled out an exploding birdarang from her belt. She flung it silently at the vehicle, scowling as a wheel exploded and the tank veered off to the side, crashing into the one next to it.

Robin aimed a birdarang with knock out gas amid a series of soldiers while Kid Flash super sped his way through, taking each of their guns.

Swift kept destroying and herding the tanks with her aerial attacks forcing them back into the Bialyan territory. She could hear many screaming out in their language.

"[a demon! A demon of the wind! Run! Run for your lives!]"

"Demon…pfff! How rude" Swift rolled her eyes as she flew over to where Superboy and Miss Martian had diverted the stampede around the woman and child that were still holding onto each other for dear life.

"Are you both alright?" she asked calmly.

The pair looked up in shock as she hovered down to them just as Robin and Kid Flash both zipped into place dropping all the soldier's guns at his feet.

The boy and woman were both remarkably similar looking, with red hair, large brown eyes and small dabbling's of freckles under the eyes. Freckles that looked remarkably similar to-

Swift's mind was racing as the boy's face split into an excited grin.

"Mom! Mom! We were just saved by Robin, Swift and Kid Flash!"

_Oh, how cute a fan._

Swift smirked catching her friend's eyes.

"Well, Superboy and Miss Martian helped too" Kid Flash shrugged as the pair came up level with them, Miss Martian gently placing a telekinetically hovering Oryx down to the ground.

"Oryx!" the boy ran up to the animal and hugged it around its neck. The woman, his mother, got to her feet slowly and walked towards the young protégés with a wary look on her face.

"We diverted the Bialyan's around the sanctuary, you should be safe now," Robin said as assuredly as he could, but the woman still looked uncertain.

Swift felt something tap her shoulder, and she turned quickly to see nothing there.

"Uh…can I…" Miss Martian's voice asked quietly from the blank space. Swift sighed with relief, and Kid Flash grinned.

"Yeah…coast is clear Miss M you can de camo now" he grinned. Miss Martian became visible again as she took off the hood of her cloak.

"H-hi!" she smiled nervously.

The little boy became even more excited when she suddenly reappeared. But his mother seemed to feel otherwise, as she stepped forward with a frown.

"You might've made things worse. Bialyan border crossings are a way of life here. Usually, they wreck a few fences and move on. Engaging them might have made us a target"

"Mom!" the boy whined "Uncool."

The mother sighed and walked over to stand next to the boy "I'm sorry. I should thank you. This is my son Garfield. And I'm-"

"Marie Logan" Miss Martian squealed excitedly "I can't believe I'm meeting you in person?!"

_Whoa! Talk about a fan-girl moment!_

Swift exchanged a nervous glance with Superboy as one of the wildebeest from before groaned and limped over to them.

Marie rushed to the animal quickly and stroked its back soothingly before turning back and glaring at them.

"The Oryx is sick, and I think you injured this wildebeest" her glare was particularly hard on Superboy who looked slightly sheepish.

"Uh…sorry."

Marie sighed heavily again. "I suppose it was unavoidable. But both need to go to our clinic."

"Swift and the Boys can do that" Miss Martian suggested happily. "You and I can uh…fix your fences!"

"That's not exactly our-" Robin began, but Miss Martian quickly turned back on him with big eyes just as Garfield turned on his mom with the same look.

"Robin please!"

"Please, mom?!"

Both Robin and Marie sighed in unison.

"Fine"

Swift giggled softly as both Miss Martian and Garfield whooped with joy.

Robin turned back to her with a resigned look.

"How do you manage this?"

"Sometimes Rob you just have to go with it" she shrugged.

* * *

Swift sighed heavily as Miss Martian opened the back door to the bioship.

It was a couple of hours when Swift and the boys got Marie, Garfield, the Wildebeest and the Oryx back to the clinic in the bioship by which time they were all exhausted.

"Miss M?" Robin muttered

"Yeah," Miss Martian yawned as Kid and Superboy trudged past her.

"Could you make a bed along the side here, with a couple of curtains?"

"Sure" She nodded.

"Why curtains?" Swift yawned as her partner took her by the hand to an organic curtain that separated their bed from the rest of the crews.

Robin fixed her with a look, and she nodded.

"Oh yeah…that" she blushed running a hand over her head.

There was a snicker behind them, and they both turned to see Kid Flash smirking at the two of them.

"What's up with you?" Robin glowered at his best friend.

"Oh nothing." he shrugged as whistling he waltzed off to the front of the ship.

"Just ignore him" Swift grumbled as they drew both their curtains shut.

"What a day" Robin grunted as he peeled off his mask revealing a very tired pair of sparkling blue eyes.

"I know." Swift nodded as she pulled her cowl from her head.

"It's grown again" Dick pointed to her.

Christine ran a hand over her head again and smiled softly. Her white hair was now slightly longer than Robins mop, though thankfully falling much neater than his did.

"Does it look ok?" she asked nervously

"Yeah. The short hair really does suit you." He nodded with a genuine smile.

"I still prefer it longer though" Christine blushed running her hand through it again. "Easier to style."

"Right sure" Dick rolled his eyes as someone poked their head through the curtain.

It was Wally.

"Hey, you two, M'gann's gonna turn off the lights in a-whoa! What happened to your hair?" the speedster reeled back in surprise as the girl wonder's face fell into her hands.

Great just what she needed. More embarrassment.

Thankfully Dick was there to come to her aid with a smirk.

"We'll tell you in the morning. Trust me; it's so worth the wait" he sniggered into his best friend's ear.

"It better be" Wally frowned in confusion, but nonetheless let himself be steered back behind the curtain, which shut behind him.

"Goodnight!

* * *

_**Logan Animal Sanctuary (Qurac), November 23 2010, 06:57 UTC+2** _

"So wait, let me get this straight. You were moulting? As in shedding? And lost all your hair overnight?!"

"Would you speak up KF, I don't think the inhabitants of Pluto could hear you" Robin rolled his eyes as Kid Flash sniggered.

Behind his back Conner glowered angrily as he shared a look with his foster sister, his suspicions confirmed when she shrugged and nodded quietly at him. So, it was her genomorph genetics that was messing with her.

He'd been wondering when they would; she was part bird after all.

He was distracted by the laughter of the ten-year-old boy that ran out ahead excitedly in front of them.

Garfield Logan was ecstatic as he led the young heroes out towards his family home. He couldn't believe he was getting to walk and talk with the sidekicks of the Justice League. The only thing that could top that would be to actually meet the Justice League face to face!

They passed under a tree and Swift cried out as a green monkey dropped down on her head before springing onto a livid Superboy's shoulder, before jumping onto Kid Flash and stealing his protein bar.

"Hey! Get it off!"

Robin snorted smugly as the little primate scrambled up Garfield's blue shirt to sit on his shoulder.

"It's ok. Meet Monkey" The boy laughed as Monkey the monkey took a bite out of Kid's snack.

"Good name. But I hate monkeys" Superboy scowled only to have the bar thrown at his head.

"Looks like monkeys hate Superboy's" Robin snickered.

"Dude be glad he only threw a protein bar" Kid agreed as Monkey clambered up onto Swift's shoulders.

"Aww! Hey, there little guy" She giggled slightly as she scratched its head. Monkey leaned into her touch and shut his eyes, chattering softly.

"Look monkeys like Swift" Kid muttered smugly in an undertone to Superboy who promptly crushed his foot before following Garfield into the house.

"Ow ow!" the speedster hopped on one foot outside.

"Kid! Would you hurry up and get in here?" Swift barked as she sat on the seat of the chair Robin was sitting on from around a coffee table.

"So pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom huh?" Garfield asked conversationally as he stood at the front of the room.

"What do you mean?" Superboy folded his arms and leaned away from the monkey on Swift's shoulders as he jumped over their heads to flee back up to the younger boy's shoulders.

"I mean she looks exactly like Marie. Y'know…except greener."

"She does?" Kid Flash looked around the room.

"Well duh!" Garfield exclaimed "Especially back when mom was a TV star on Hello Megan."

Swift's eyes widened in astonishment. So that feeling of familiarity wasn't just her imagining. She looked down at Robin. "Wait so Hello Megan…is a television show?"

"I just thought it was something she said all the time" Robin shrugged.

"Yeah! On the TV show" Garfield snorted " _Way_  before we were born! Only one season. You can't even find it online. I know mom has a tape somewhere…"

He looked back at the Television which was set up over a cabinet full of Videotapes.

"I'll see if it's in here."

They waited for a few moments as the younger boy fiddled and sorted through all the tapes one by one, carefully reading the label.

"So…M'gann's been using another identity" Robin muttered to Swift who frowned and folded her arms.

"Well we can't exactly talk, can we?"

"No…I guess not" Robin agreed. Then there was a triumphant-

"Ha! Hello Megan! The pilot episode"

Garfield pulled out a videotape and blew the top to clear any dust before putting it in the player.

"Whoa! You still have VHS. Where's your A-track?" Kid smirked as an FBI warning notice for copyright infringement came up on the screen.

Swift felt a chill up her neck just as her ears pricked suddenly.

"Wait!" she jumped to her feet making the others jump in surprise.

"I hear it too" Superboy tilted his head to focus on his super hearing "Aircraft headed this way"

"Let's go!" Swift flew out the door.

She looked up and saw Miss Martian and Marie running up to them from the latter's service truck.

"What is it?" the Martian looked worried.

"It seems that some of our new friends are about to pop in" Swift narrowed her eyes as she saw the dark shapes of the fighter planes get close into view.

"There are three of them" Kid Flash called before several bangs issued from them.

Marie and Miss Martian both began to sprint for their lives as the gunfire splattered over the terrain, closer and closer to them.

Eventually Miss Martian dove over Marie to protect her as Superboy crouched over them both.

The planes passed overhead and began to veer around for another attack.

"Where's my son?" Marie called out desperately.

"I ordered him to stay inside" Robin nodded, but Marie's face just turned if possible even paler.

"He's eight! He doesn't do orders."

"MOM!" Garfield's voice echoed across from the clinic.

"Mom! It's ok I got the animal's out!" They all turned to see the boy as he opened the doors. The Oryx and Wildebeest both rushed out.

There were several more rounds of shots as the guns on the planes tore over the terrain again. One of them hit an energy tank on the outside.

They watched in horror as it exploded with a loud Kaboom and Garfield's tiny form was blown high up into the air along with a plume of black smoke and wooden debris.

"GARFIELD!" Marie cried out in horror as Miss Martian flew into the fray catching him before he could hit the ground. She flew him back down to his mother who took him quickly in her arms.

Marie had to gulp down her horror as she saw the red bubble of blood burst from his mouth as he took a shuddering breath. Garfield was a small child already but being held like this he looked positively tiny and frail.

"They're banking again!" Swift called as she saw the planes turn back around in unison.

"I told you there'd be consequences!" Marie glowered at her and Robin.

"Always" Robin looked down at the ground with guilt.

Marie looked like she wanted to retort but Swift cut across her quickly.

"We can worry about who was at fault later. For now, let's get your son and you safely inside."

Marie shut her mouth and nodded.

Quickly as they could, Swift and Robin escorted the almost hyperventilating mother back inside the house and to a room, which was like a makeshift medical centre.

"We use this in case there are too many animals in the clinic, or if someone close by needs a basic check-up" Marie explained trying to open a medical kit, but her hands were shaking badly.

"Here" Swift opened the box from her hold gently and opened the lock.

Marie nodded in thanks and took out her equipment with Swift and Robin quietly watching over the small boy in the bed.

She quickly bandaged his bleeding head before hearing for his heartbeat with a stethoscope.

Swift drummed her fingers along the small window pane as she looked outside. The bangs and crashes from outside had stopped. The rest of the team must've finished with the planes.

There was a small bang of wood hitting wood as Kid Flash opened the door in a rush just as Marie announced to them

"He's in shock. He needs a blood transfusion now. Are any of you O negative?"

"No" Robin shook his head.

"Robin's B negative, Kid Flash is O positive, and I'm AB positive" Swift counted off on her fingers

"Sorry" the speedster apologised sadly. Marie sighed heavily.

"Neither am I. It's the hardest to match. I kept a supply in the clinic but-"

"I can run him to the nearest hospital" Kid stepped forward boldly, but Robin shook his head.

"The nearest hospital with a guaranteed blood supply is half an hour away at your top speed. Longer by bioship."

"He doesn't have that much time" Marie looked down at her child and Swift thought she could almost see tears spring in the corners of them.

"What's Superboy's blood type?"

"He's Kryptonian, and Miss Martian-" Swift bit her lip nervously.

"Might be able to help" Miss Martian stepped into the room timidly followed by a nervous Superboy. "My shape-shifting occurs at a cellular level."

She stepped up to stand beside Garfield. "I think I can morph my blood to match his"

"Please try" Marie begged.

"I'll need to concentrate. No distractions." Miss Martian nodded, and Marie rounded on the rest of them.

"Out all of you! Out!"

Swift and Robin dashed out of the room with the others, the latter sighing as he made his way back to the lounge.

"We've just gotten an animal sanctuary shot at, an eight-year-old boy is half dead and on top of all this Harjavti steps down tomorrow, subjecting all of Qurac to this danger" he ran his fingers through his hair. "KF can you find a news station?"

"On it" Kid grabbed all the television remotes and fumbled with each one "great…now which remote is it?"

Robin groaned in exasperation and leaned forward in his chair.

"Hey, it's gonna be ok" Swift leaned over him from the back of the chair with both hands on his shoulders. Gently she dug her thumbs in smooth but firm circular motions in the fleshy flat bit of his upper back between his shoulder blades. Round and round they went before she moved her hands up to squeeze his tense shoulders.

"You don't know that…unless you've got some new psychic ability to match your new hair" Robin groaned again, but this time it was less irritable as she moved her hands back to his upper back.

"No. no. Not quite psychic. Just the usual good gut feeling" Swift smiled softly as he leaned back into her touch, both eyes shut as he took a deep soothing breath.

"Hmmm…alright if you say so" He grunted as he felt a knot release in his muscles.

They both heard Kid mutter something along the lines of "lucky stiff" before he turned back to the television remotes.

Suddenly there was music in the room. Everyone turned to see the television on which a large logo zoomed into centre screen.

" _Hello, Megan!_ "

Swift's jaw dropped as an image of a girl that looked exactly like their M'gann flashed across the screen. They all watched in astonishment as the opening credits rolled onto the actual show, where the TV Megan ran down the stairs of her typical sitcom home before clapping a hand to her forehead.

 _"_ _Ah! Hello Megan_ " the studio audience roared with laughter as TV Megan ran up to the front door to open it for her guest, which turned out to be a slim guy with long blackish hair.

" _Conner_!"

Superboy turned his face away scowling in embarrassment.

"Oh yeah…pure coincidence" Kid Flash muttered to Robin

"More like trippy" Swift pinched the bridge of her nose blinking hard.

"It's done." came a small voice.

They all jumped and turned around to see their own Miss Martian standing behind them passively. Kid Flash quickly grabbed a remote and started pressing every single button on it until the channel changed back to the normal television mode.

" _My fellow Quracies._ " Spoke a familiar voice and Miss Martian looked up.

"Is that Harjavti?"

They turned back to the TV to see the President of Qurac standing at a podium surrounded by armoured guards.

" _Queen Bee's rule is a gift to our people-_ "

"Hey, that guy in the back! I know him" Superboy pointed into the crowd behind the Harjavti towards a hooded figure.

Robin quickly pulled up his holo-computer which scanned. Swift and Kid Flash both looked on with wide eyes as Miss Martian explained.

"It's Psimon, the psychic we fought last time we were in Bialaya. He was working for Queen Bee then, he must be controlling Harjavti for her now."

"Argh! I can still remember the headache from when he brain blasted us."

"We have to get Harjavti away from him" Robin narrowed his eyes at the psychic's stats on his computer. "Swift what can you make of this data? Swift?"

But Swift was not listening to him. She was staring transfixed at the television screen at a point just next to Psimon where a man in a black suit with black hair and a small scar over his mouth was standing.

_Ishan? But how? The Fortress exploded?_

"Swift…is something-" Miss Martian began, but at that moment there were footsteps from behind them as Marie stepped into the room. She looked very relieved.

"I think it worked. Garfield's stable."

"Good because we have our mission"

* * *

_**Dhabar (Qurac), November 23 2010, 22:11 UTC+2** _

Swift was currently on all fours, behind Robin trying her best to not hit her head on the top of the ventilation shaft, they were all hiding in.

_Man, this is cramped even for me._

She winced as her elbow grazed the metal beside her.

_You feel cramped? How do you think I feel?_

Superboy grumbled from his spot behind her, where he was lying flat on his stomach with both arms tucked under him in a crawling position

_Harjavti is alone._

Robin announced as he pulled the small camera up.

He opened the shaft's grated door, and they all fell through one after the other into the president's large office.

Swift approached Harjavti carefully as he turned his head towards her. The man's face was devoid of emotion as if he was in a trance and his voice was monotone.

"Where's my daughter? Where's Psimon?"

"Forget him" Robin nodded at Swift. "Let's get you out of here."

But before Swift could help Harjavti stand up the three doors around the office burst open and Bialyan soldiers rushed in all carrying an assortment of high tech weapons with a red glow.

Swift looked up as an unarmed soldier with a cap, and a patch on his shoulder walked in behind his troops and sneered at them in a thick accent. "Well, well. American Heroes. Here to assassinate the president. Such a shame we arrived too late to stop them."

_At the risk of sounding like an idiot here! Do any of you know what kind of weapons these are?_

Swift looked around at all the strange weapons that were pointed at them as she stood up.

_I do_

Superboy quickly glanced at her and then back at the soldiers.

_Those are Apokoliptan weapons_

_Which they'll use to kill Harjavti, we get blamed, and Queen Bee gets to rule Qurac!_

Robin surmised.

_Form up around the President_

They all nodded except for Miss Martian who was currently somewhere else in the room cloaked.

_I found Psimon!_

She called.

_M'gann wait!_

Swift called out, but she could feel the mental link with her friend go slightly weaker as it sped away from them.

_I'll get her_

Superboy suggested, but Robin reached out to stop him.

_No, the mission is Harjavti_

_Besides, I don't think our new buddies are going to let us off that easily_

Kid Flash narrowed his eyes at a nearby soldier who gulped but stood his ground.

Now that Swift looked around at most of the soldiers she saw that most of them wore the same scared expressions on each of their faces.

"Swift what are you doing?" Robin hissed as she put both her hands up, in parley. The soldiers prepped their weapons to fire.

"[Wait!]" She said in fluid Bialyan. The soldiers all halted for a moment surprised. "[I understand a lot of you don't want to be here. That most of you are only attacking us because you've been ordered to do so. But the way I see it, there are two options. You can step down now and leave in peace, and we can avoid unnecessary violence. Or we can do this the hard way. It's your choice]"

There was a silence as several of the soldiers lowered their weapons ever so slightly. Their captain's sneer became a snarl.

"[Pick up your weapons you fools! Remember you serve our queen, not this little bitch.] Open fire!" the last two words were shouted out in English and the soldiers snapped into action.

"Well, that went  _really_  well!" Kid said sarcastically as he sped around the president's desk, making a makeshift perimeter around it.

"Oh piss off Kid!" Swift snapped as she blocked some of the blasts with her war fans before lunging forwards and winding a couple of soldiers in the guts allowing Robin and Superboy to snap off their Apokoliptan weapons. She then leapt over to their leader who was trying to run away, but she grabbed him by the scruff of his uniform before he could even get one foot out of the door.

He blubbered in terror as she narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Y'know…it's rude to insult a lady" she hissed softly before delivering an uppercut to his jaw and knocking him out just as the others finished up with the soldiers.

She dropped the man in her grasp just as someone else came running into the room.

"Father!"

It was a woman with dark hair and skin with a beauty mark under one eye, wearing a navy-blue suit and skirt combo.

She ran over to the president and hugged him as he seemed to snap out of whatever daze he'd just been in.

"Noor! You're alright." He hugged her back. Noor Harjavti looked up beaming at the young protégé's as she pulled away from her father.

"Thank you for saving my father. We will take care of him now."

Robin nodded at her before turning back to the rest of the team.

"Come on; we've gotta go help M'gann."

"Right!" they nodded before dashing out the door.

"Do you think she's ok?" Superboy asked as he Robin and Kid Flash ran down the corridor with Swift flying above them.

"I bet she's fine," Kid Flash said airily grinning. "Right, Swift?"

But again, Swift didn't answer. A chill had gone up against her spine as they passed the last corridor.

She doubled back mid-run to stare down it. A shadowy figure was waiting at the end right next to the wall. A figure with a black cowl and a pair of golden owl-like goggles. But she knew right away that it wasn't her papa. No, this shadow was slightly shorter and leaner and had less ornate armour, but it was still nonetheless a Talon.

_But why-_

_Swift?_

Robin called over the mental link

She blinked. The Talon was gone.

 _Coming Rob_.

She replied finding to her surprise that she was shaking and sweating badly. She caught up with them just as an exit came in sight.

_Babe? What's wrong? We called you several times?_

Kid sounded just as worried as Robin.

_Just checking to see if we're being followed._

_And is anyone following us?_  Robin enquired.

She gulped as she chanced a look back and saw the same shadow from before. The Talon raised a quiet finger to its lips as it slid back into the shadows.

_No…nothing at all…_

Swift replied, but Robin narrowed his eyes as if guessing her hidden thoughts as she flew back to the ground to run with them.

_Any word from M'gann?_

Swift asked as Robin pushed her so that she ran in front of him.

_No! But she sounds distressed._

There were the distant sounds of crashing and thudding as the end of the corridor came closer towards them.

Swift saw Superboy's face turn pale as he sped up the pace of his giant strides.

_M'gann we're coming._

But before they could even reach the room pain shot through all of them and they were forced to stop short. Swift clutched her head as she stumbled over Robin who was already lying unconscious, her brain going black before she could hit the floor.

* * *

_Christine was alone in a large garden, swinging on a swing set. The pathway that led through the bushes and flowers was paved in white marble which glistened under the bright sun hanging in a bright blue sky. All around her flowers bloomed and the fresh grass was fresh and green as emeralds. But she wasn't looking around her. She was huddled under a tree trying to hide in the shadows of the leaves but the sun kept peeping through._

_She whimpered as a small ray hit her skin. Why was the sun so keen to expose her unhappiness?_

_Then the light was blocked, and she looked up._

_A man stood in front of her. He was very tall …or was she just really small? That being said she could see that he had dark brown hair like hers but cut much shorter. He was dressed in a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black pants held up by a pair of black pant suspenders. He looked down at her, his warm brown eyes slightly puzzled._

_"_ _Christine, what is wrong? Why are you crying?"_

_"_ _I'm not crying" Christine heard herself grumble in a high, childish voice._

_"_ _Oh?" the man knelt down to her eye level. "Then why do you have tears falling down your face?"_

_She looked up. The man's eyes were so warm and kind that the barrier she'd placed to stop her tears broke apart instantly._

_"_ _I keep messing up!" She blubbered, and the man gently took her into his arms. "I keep making mistakes…and-and-"_

_"_ _And?"_

_"_ _It's not fair!" she wailed banging her much smaller fists on the man's chest "I do everything I can to make her notice me, but nothing works. She glares at me like I'm a monster!"_

_"_ _Shh, it's ok. You're not a monster" He rocked her backwards and forwards gently as her eyes filled with tears._

_"_ _What's wrong with me?"_

_"_ _Christine nothing's wrong with you" the man rubbed her back in large soothing circles._

_This seemed to calm her down somewhat, and soon her wails had turned back to soft sniffles._

_"_ _There is nothing wrong with you" he repeated softly holding her close._

_"_ _If nothing's wrong with me…then why does she hate me so much?" she mumbled._

_"…_ _I don't know… but I don't hate you. And I never will."_

_I never will…_

* * *

"Swift…"

Swift groaned and turned over in her sleep.

"Swift get up."

"Five more minutes papa" she grunted.

"Uh…Swift, it's me."

"…M'gann?"

Swift opened her eyes and saw Miss Martian's face hovering over hers.

That's right…They were still in the large hallway of the Qurac house of parliament.

Once she saw she was awake, Miss Martian helped pull her up into a sitting position just as Superboy and Robin began stirring.

"Oww." he groaned as Swift helped him to his feet.

"And there's the headache" Kid Flash grunted as he too sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Psimon?" Robin winced as he finally found his footing.

"He brain blasted you. I stopped him" Miss Martian smiled down at them before turning to look away. Swift followed her gaze and it fell onto a mass of rubble that consisted of broken chairs and television screens. Amidst it all the pale-faced evil psychic was lying with his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling, a sliver of drool dripping from his open mouth.

"Whoa…Remind me not to get on your bad side" Swift grinned at Miss Martian who blushed slightly pink.

* * *

_**Logan Animal Sanctuary (Qurac), November 24 2010, 11:28 UTC+2** _

"M'gann! M'gann, Garfield's up do you wanna see him?" Swift called as she popped her head out the front door. M'gann was outside on the front porch steps looking out onto the beautiful scenery with a very forlorn expression on her face.

"M'gann?"

"Oh…hey Swift" she smiled quickly, but Swift didn't buy it.

She knew that smile only too well. It was the same one that she'd taught herself day in and day out in front of the mirror after that fateful day four years ago. The smile that told people who couldn't understand you that you were alright and not to worry, when you were really hurting on the inside.

"M'gann stop smiling. It may fool people like Wally and the others, but I  _know_  something's bothering you."

Miss Martian looked taken aback as she turned her head down to the ground.

"Swift… It's nothing. I'm just feeling tired from last night that's all." Miss Martian stopped there and made a move as if to shift away but Swift grabbed her shoulder and steered her back in front of her before she could run off.

The older girl was surprised at how forceful, the younger one could be despite her tiny size.

"Listen…I don't know what that creep Psimon did to you…and I know everyone has their secrets…but take it from me…Shutting yourself away from the people who care about you will only make the pain worse not better."

"And how would you know that?" Miss Martian spat under her breath sounding like an angry child. "You're perfect. You're pretty, smart, kind and funny. You've got a dad like Batman who worries about you, Robin and the boys love you to bits. You're probably the most popular girl in your school too. And I bet you have a mother who adores you. What do you know about how I feel?"

At this Swift chuckled darkly.

"A mother who adores me? Heh! There's one I've never heard before."

"What?"

"Let's put it this way M'gann…you're not the only one who fears rejection."

Miss Martian's eyes widened as she saw the small, sad smile grace her friends face.

"…Who rejected you?" Miss Martian held her breath apprehensively. She didn't know whether she wanted to hear the answer or not.

Swift opened her mouth to speak when someone called from within the house.

"Hey girls! The news is on! Come in and see!"

"Coming Kid" Swift called before grabbing Miss Martian by the hand and dragging her back into the house before the latter could object.

" _And I assure you, the Wayne Foundation will do whatever it can to help you and your people rebuild Qurac_."

_Trust Dad to have perfect timing_

Swift shook her head fondly as she went over to sit squished up with Robin on a single couch as they, Miss Martian, Superboy, Kid Flash and Marie all watched the Television screen on which the tall form of Bruce Wayne was currently shaking hands with President Harjavti.

"Gee. Bruce Wayne sure got here fast. Almost as if he knew-ow!"

Kid cried out as Robin flung his arms back to put them behind his head very  _accidentally_  hitting him in the process.

Swift rolled her eyes "Shouldn't you be collecting a souvenir or something?"

"Agh! Hello Megan!" the speedster slapped his forehead before zipping over to the video cabinet and pulling out a tape. He waggled it in front of Miss Martian's face.

"Something you'd like to tell us?"

Miss Martian looked down at the ground nervously as everyone leaned forward to listen intently.

"Growing up on Mars was not a happy time for me, but I started watching the broadcasts my uncle sent from Earth to teach us about our sister planet. And when I saw Hello Megan, something just  _clicked_. Maybe it was the similarity in our names. Maybe it was the way all Megan's problems could be solved in twenty-two minutes. All I know for sure is…that Megan helped me smile through a lonely childhood. So…when I came to Earth and had to adopt a human form I chose you, well…Megan" She looked up at Marie who was looking teary-eyed at her, clearly very touched.

Swift and Robin both exchanged glances.

"Which begs the question…what do you really look like?"

There was a pause in which Miss Martian looked around at them all as if thinking hard. But then she stood up.

Swift couldn't help but hold her breath as her friend began to morph before them, her brows jutting forwards, her lips turning green, her freckles disappearing and her hair shrinking back into her skull until she was completely bald. Like this, she looked almost like a female replica of her uncle.

"Bald M'gann. Still, hot" Kid grinned.

Swift shook her head in exasperation as Superboy stood up to take his girlfriend's hand.

"You know you don't have to put on a mask for me."

"I do it for me" Miss Martian pulled her hand away and morphed back into her regular form "This is who I am…inside. Please don't be mad."

She directed this towards Marie who smiled sincerely.

"Mad? I'm honoured. M'gann you saved my son. He says he's your blood brother now and I agree. You're family"

Miss Martian's eyes welled up with tears as she ran up to her idol who accepted her in a warm hug.

"Thank you! You can't know what that means to me."

_Who rejected you?_

Swift shut her eyes and leaned into her partner's hold as Miss Martian's words wafted over her brain.

She felt sick to her stomach with herself. M'gann was like her sister, her sweet bubbly, slightly enigmatic older sister.

_Oh, M'gann…_

She should be happy for her like everyone else.

_If only you knew…_

Instead, she was seething with envy and in this state of mind she couldn't help but notice-

_How much I wished I could be…_

-that despite the fact that Miss Martian had green skin she and Marie was a human-

_…_ _just_

\- they both looked like they truly were-

_…_ _like_

-mother

_…_ _you_

-and daughter.

* * *

_**Dhabar (Qurac) November 24 2010, 20:27 UTC+2** _

The two young men stood facing one another in the darkened alleyway of the slum. It was empty as all the inhabitants of the area thronged together in the dilapidated town square to celebrate their country's liberation late into the night.

Both young men were near identical, lean muscled bodies and tanned skin with bright amber eyes and a thin scar scraped over the mouth. One had a dark mop of black hair and was wearing a black stealth suit with a red chess Knight emblazoned over his chest.

The other man's head was shaven, and he wore a black suit too, with dull gold accents and an owl-faced cowl tucked under his arm.

"So. You're my copy, are you?" the man with the owl cowl scowled as he traced the same face before him.

"Are you sure it's not the other way around? The man in the red and black suit sneered.

"We both know I'm the original" the man with the cowl smirked, "Because the real me would never stoop as low as you have."

"Low?" the duplicate scowled "I'm a Red Knight and you're a Talon, skulking around in the dark. I've surpassed you in ways you've never even dreamed-"

"Oh, how I tremble with fear" the Talon's smirk widened as the Red Knight's fists clenched by his sides.

Close by a small owl hooted as it perched from the safety of a nearby tin roof. It's big orange eyes roved interestedly at the two men as they sized one another up with their eyes.

Then there was a small bang and a heavy thud.

The Owl's bright orange eyes widened in shock as it took flight into the air, screeching into the night.

Meanwhile down below, the man with the owl cowl knelt by the body of his duplicate, in which a small dart had lodged itself into the back of his neck.

"Hey! I almost had him." He growled as another taller Talon with more ornate armour loomed behind where his opponent had been standing. In his hands was a small dart gun was smoking.

"There's been a change of plan" the older Talon grunted as he swiftly swept up the knife from the corpse's back. "We're to take this one alive back to Gotham."

"Why?" the younger Talon breathed, stiffening as his superior stared him down behind that mask.

"Because you're going to take his place, Ishan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is, episode 21 up and a go. Truth be told I didn't have much to change in this chapter as I was pretty happy with it in the original fic. Just a case of tweaking Swift's powers and adding that little bit at the end. I thought it would be funny to start making Christine take on some of the attributes of her animal genetics, as some birds do moult a few times a year XD
> 
> So yeah, Red Knight!Clone Ishan is going to be replaced by the original Talon!Ishan. Won't this be interesting ;)
> 
> You guys know the drill by now if you enjoyed please fave and review.
> 
> Till next time amigos.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	22. Agendas & Advantages

_**Metropolis, November 26 2010, 04:03 EDT** _

"Do you have to leave so soon" a bald man with dark eyebrows drawled as he lounged languidly on the large bed only covered in a bedsheet.

He leered lustfully as a blonde-haired woman sat on the edge of the bed, strapping a pair of translucent black stockings to the black suspenders over her pale, luscious skin.

"Oh Lex, you know I have plans today." She turned to pout all too innocently though her hazel eyes smouldered darkly. She watched with smugness as Lex Luthor licked his lips as his gaze trailed down her naked torso and down to the black lingerie that barely covered her hips.

As his eyes trailed upwards, he noticed her looking at him and smirked.

"I know Scarlett. So do I… " he leaned up and held her steady by the waist as he flicked his tongue over the shell of her ear "But we can arrange for our plans to be…delayed"

"Maybe you can" Scarlett leaned into his hold as his mouth moved away from her ear to her neck. "But unfortunately, this little project has to be done according to the time set to it, or it won't work as it should."

"Of course, of course. But…" Lex's grip tightened around her as he bit into her flesh and she groaned softly.

"Alright, …just little quick one then" Scarlett smirked wickedly, as she allowed herself to be pulled back into the tangle of sheets.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, November 26 2010, 11:17 EDT** _

The morning was grey and cold as the two young teens lay side by side in the large four-poster bed.

Dick Grayson and Christine Hallows weren't usually in the habit of sharing a room. Indeed, the boy and girl wonder enjoyed having their space all to themselves as they slept, but last night was one of the few exceptions. They'd gone out for a long patrol, then had come back to eat all of Alfred's humungous Thanksgiving feast before nursing the food-hangover in Christine's large bed until they had both dozed off into the land of Nod.

_Ring! Ring!_

"Dick…it's on your side" a sleepy voice grumbled.

"Ok," Dick Grayson opened a bleary eye and yawned wide. Reluctantly he rolled away from his partner to reach out and grab her phone from her bedside table.

He handed it to Christine who groggily sat up and stretched out. Dick smirked at her. Like him, she was still dressed in her Swift suit though without her cowl, gloves or boots.

"Hello?" she grumbled as she put the phone to her ear. A second later her eyes widened, all sleep forgotten and her face paled.

"Chris-"

She put a hand up to silence him. When she spoke next, her voice was trembling, though from fear or rage Dick couldn't tell.

"I see…yes, I understand…. yes. Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and got out of the bed.

"What happened?" Dick sat up very confused as Christine raced off to grab the rest of her hero gear which was laying around the room.

"Nothing!" she clipped icily as she slid her purple utility belt and garter onto her body.

"It doesn't look like nothing" He barely blinked and already she was pulling over a snow jacket and a detachable skirt over her suit, shoving her cowl into her jacket pocket bag.

He sprung out of bed and rushed to grab her hand.

"Where are you going?" he held her steady not relinquishing his hold on her wrist.

"Nowhere of your concern" she tried to yank her hand away, but he tightened his grip even more.

"I can help-"

"No! You can't!" He frowned for a second as he noticed her shaking fingers as they tried to do up the satchel's drawstring. Something had freaked her out. Something big. Or someone?

"It's  _her_  isn't it?" he glowered at her as he tried to reach for her only to be jerked backwards as something clicked into place.

Dick looked up in shock from his wrist that was handcuffed to the bedpost as his partner backed away from him with watery eyes.

"Whatever you do. Don't follow me. Don't even leave the manor."

"Christine wait-"

"No Dick! Trust me it's safer this way."

Before Dick could retort, she was already at her window snapping on a metal pack onto her back.

"Goodbye"

And with that she leapt out of the window, unfurling her mechanical wings and gliding down over the manor grounds.

"NO! Christine! WAIT! CHRISTINE!" Dick called out, cursing himself as he looked around the room.

He didn't have his utility belt on hand and, the inbuilt lockpicks in his gloves were too far away for him to reach. Also, she had pulled the cuffs tight around his slim wrist.

_Hairpin! She must have a hairpin somewhere-aha!_

He grinned victoriously as he spotted a black hairpin sitting on her bedside table.

Even as he stretched out with his flexible leg to pick the pin with his toes, he saw her black dot disappear over the manor gate.

* * *

_**Gotham City, November 26 2010, 11:58 EDT** _

Wallace West skidded to a halt into the open space and shuddered. All around him was snow and grey skies, which just made the tall gothic buildings that surrounded him even darker than usual.

He zipped up his red winter jacket, thanking his stars that he was wearing his friction proof thermals under his pants or else he'd be a Popsicle.

There was a tap at his shoulder.

"Jesus!"

He spun around and glowered at his younger friend Dick Grayson who was in a large dark blue jacket over his winter gear.

"Guess again."

Wally gulped.

The younger boys face was sterner than he'd ever seen it.

There was the crunching of snow beneath feet as Kaldur and Roy both stepped up to them, both in their own dark green and black winter jackets.

"Took you long enough" Roy glared.

"Hey! I came as quick as I could! These winds cause a lot of drag; also I think I turned into a blimp yesterday" Wally pouted patting his flat stomach "Whew! My Mom really outdid herself this Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving aside, Christine is most likely in trouble, and we have to help her" Kaldur frowned.

"You do realise she's going to be pissed off with all of us for doing this behind her back?" Wally looked somewhat worriedly at all of them.

"But not as angry as she would be if we called Batman." Kaldur shook his head "I believe that's why you called us instead of him?" he looked pointedly at Dick who nodded.

"The last time the camera's noticed her, she was walking close to this spot, but towards to the waterside", he pointed off down the street towards the south-east.

"You mean somewhere close to the Boathouse Hotel?" Roy quirked an eyebrow.

"Boathouse Hotel?"

"Yeah y'know…that rich upper crust boat club where all those bitchy rich snobs all hang out."

"…OF COURSE!" Dick clapped a hand to his forehead "Of course she'd meet her there.  _She_  owns that place!"

"What? Chris-"

"NO!"

"Then who?" Kaldur asked in confusion.

"Red Queen" Roy frowned noticing the grim look on Dick's face.

"That bitch! I knew it! What the hell does she want now?" Wally snarled.

"Wally is right; she's already risked so much by targeting us last time, so why again so soon?" Kaldur looked at Dick who gulped.

Dick looked at all of them gulping. He could tell them…they were his and Christine's friends after all, but was it really his place to do so?

"It's… now don't freak out or anything because I'm not sure. Chris hasn't really told me herself… but I think…I think Christine might be…a-a genomorph."

"WHAT!" Wally and Kaldur both yelled.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Roy's eyes flashed angrily.

"SHH! Keep it down." Dick hissed as he checked the street around them because at their exclamation a couple of families with their shopping turned to look at the teens in alarm. "Listen, right after we went to Cadmus Christine transformed right?"

"Right." Kaldur nodded. "and?"

"And after that, I did some digging and found a-uh-a file on the Batcomputer." Dick motioned to them to huddle as he pulled up a hologram from his watch.

"Christine Evelyn Hallows…gender…age. Species? Genomorph Hybrid (Human/various owl and bat species)?!" Wally hissed staring at the profile with wide eyes before looking at Dick "Dude, what the hell-"

"Hold on up this doesn't make any sense" Kaldur's scowl deepened. "Cadmus was founded until 2001. That's five years after Christine was born"

"That's because she wasn't made at Cadmus" Dick explained bringing up another research file this time of an elderly African American man with grey hair and dark eyes wearing a long lab coat. "This is Sylas Alderwood. One of the founding members of Project Cadmus and Dr Desmond's old mentor. Before he joined Cadmus, he was involved in top-secret genetics experiments for the U.S. Government, many of which were secretly funded by Red Queen and Lex Luthor at the time. According to Batman's files, he had his private secret laboratory down in the-"

"-Gotham catacombs." Roy finished quietly.

They all turned to stare at the red-haired archer.

"You knew?!" Wally gaped at him.

"I was there with Christine when she found out about the file." Roy sighed "While you guys were all under in that simulation exercise."

"Oh! That's why she was so pissed at Bruce that day!" Wally clapped a hand to his forehead and whistled under his breath "He must've known about the file and never told her. Shit that explains so much!"

"Listen, whether she knew or not it doesn't matter now." Kaldur's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the file "Christine is in danger, and we need to reach her before she gets herself hurt or worse."

"Kaldur's right" Dick shoved his hands in his pockets "If Christine's headed for the Boathouse we should go now."

"But we go in undercover" Kaldur looked at all the three other protégé's. "If Christine has been asked to come alone, then our presence might put her in further danger. At least if we're undercover, we can slip into the place mostly unnoticed."

"Right!"

* * *

_**The Boathouse Hotel (Gotham City), November 26 2010, 12:15 EDT** _

The Boathouse Hotel. One of the gems of Gotham city. Pristine, clean with no sign of the wear, tear and grit of the rest of the dark hole. Now it was covered in white snow and glistening from the inside with cheerful holiday songs and warmth.

Christine walked up towards the black iron gates where a man in black snow gear with a black respirator over his mouth and a dark blue beanie over his head was leaning against them waiting.

"Hello Christine," Ishan smirked behind his mask. Christine frowned as she observed the amber eyes.

There was something about them that was…different.

There wasn't a manic gleam in them like she'd last seen at the Ice Fortress, and his voice was calm and collected as he looked her over.

"Aren't you cold?"

"No." She quickly stepped away, unable to control her arms as she held them to herself on autopilot as she glared up at him. "Where is she?"

"All in good time. But for now, let's get you up to your room. The mistress has arranged a party, and she would be very displeased if you turned up to it dressed like that" He opened the gates.

"I didn't come for a stupid party" Christine growled still standing in her spot "I came for Freddy. Nothing more. Nothing less. Now where is she?!"

"The only way you're going to get your friend back  _alive_  is if you co-operate with the mistress's requests. So, I suggest you follow me." He grabbed her forearm roughly and pushed her in front of him to steer her inside.

Christine didn't protest, but she didn't fake normalcy either as they entered the polished lobby scowling darkly.

The concierge didn't even look up as Ishan forced her past him and into a deserted lift.

She counted the floors as they went up, but her mind kept on going back to Ishan's grip on her arm. After the horrible touchy-feely crap that had gone down last time between them, she would've thought his hands would've been all over her. And yet…he seemed to be handling her like any other henchman.

"How much further?" she asked frowning up at him.

"Not much" he replied tersely.

There it was again. Ishan's eyes. There was not a glimmer of desire in them even as the door dinged to a stop at floor thirteen. It was like a completely different person was standing beside her.

"Move" Ishan grunted as he shoved Christine out of the lift towards the left, down to room number 1313.

As soon as it was open, Ishan removed his hand from her back and allowed Christine to step inside.

She saw that she was in a large suite with a balcony that overlooked Gotham Harbour, which was now grey in the winter sun. At once the Girl Wonder's mind went into overdrive as she assessed her surroundings in further detail.

_Escape point if necessary towards the south-east. Anything else I can use?_

She looked around the room again. There was a large plush king-sized bed on which, a large garment bag with a hanger lay in waiting with a pair of shoes on the floor and a bag of accessories and makeup in a zip lock beside it. Close by there was a lounge and a small dining area set with some candlesticks on the table.

_Good, I can use those to smash his face in!_

That calmed her down somewhat as she tried to think of ways to get rid of the man behind her. But she needn't have worried.

"I'll be waiting outside. Knock on the door when you're finished, and I'll take you back downstairs."

Ishan left the room, and the door closed with a clack.

"What the hell?"

Christine sank down beside the bed where she could see an outfit and accessories had been laid out for her. Was that really the same creep that had molested her and stabbed her?

He seemed so…cold, so distant. He had barely spoken a word to her.

_Maybe…maybe he's been brainwashed._

She thought wildly as she tried to still her hammering heart.

_Maybe my mother salvaged his body from the fortress and mind-wiped him to start again…but he seems to remember me so how-Oh this is just so confusing._

She felt her eyes water as she held herself tight in a ball.

"No. You can't cry now. Freddy needs you. She needs you to be strong" She took a massive breath of shook her head to clear it.

Something touched her shoulder and as she jumped in alarm a dark hand held her fast, and another clamped around her mouth.

"Calm down Chris it's me" a familiar voice hissed quietly in her ear.

Christine froze.

"Roy?"

She turned her head to see the archers face above her. He let go of her quickly and dragged her closer to the balcony where two more figures were slowly clambering over the railing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Christine whispered angrily as Dick and Wally straightened up, dusting the snow from their pants. She noticed that they were all wearing black tuxes under their snow jackets. Roy and Dick were sporting their domino masks while Wally had his red goggles seated atop his messy ginger head.

"I think I could ask you the same question" Dick glared at her. "And handcuffing me to the bed? A  _great_  thanksgiving present that was"

"Sorry" She looked guiltily down at the floor, afraid to see the hurt in his eyes

"Seriously Dick just forgive her already, you know she was only doing it to protect you" Roy scowled as he put a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah…hug, kiss and make up" Wally grinned.

"Hug and make up maybe" Christine folded her arms and narrowed his eyes "But kiss-"

"Not bloody likely" Dick scowled.

"Oh god, it's just an expression. Wait hang on, did you really handcuff Dick to the bed?" Roy quirked a brow.

"Whoa!" Wally choked down his laugh as he clapped Dick on the back "You dog! Wait till Kaldur hears about this-"

"It wasn't like that at all!"

Both birds glared at their friends, blushing redder than tomatoes.

_Tap! Tap! Tap!_

"Ahem! Christine! Are you almost done? The mistress is getting impatient."

"Oh no," Christine blanched so quickly that the boys jumped in alarm. "It's him."

"Who?" Wally asked, but Dick's eyes were already widening with comprehension.

"Christine!" Ishan called even louder.

"I'm coming!" She replied loudly keeping up her poker face, but they all heard how shrill and shaky her voice was.

There was a dark chuckle from the other side of the door

"Do you need some help?"

"No!" Christine squeaked as she saw the door handle begin to turn. "Hide! hide!" She hissed under her breath at her friends.

"Are you sure? If you want I can offer you some assistance?"

At this Roy's blue eyes flashed violently and he lunged forwards, hissing and spitting like an angry cat.

"Assistance?! I'll  _assist_  him to his f-ing gra-pffmph!"

Dick and Wally grabbed their friend from behind and put a hand over his mouth to shut him up as Ishan called again.

"I beg your pardon, Chris?"

"Nothing! I'm fine…I don't think I need anything-Just stay outside! I'll be out soon" then she turned back to the boys as Roy writhed with fury.

"You guys too. Turn around so I can change." She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Dick stiffened. "You're going with him after all he's done to you?!"

"It's either I go with him, or I lose Freddy."

"Your best friend?" Wally's eyebrows rose "What's she got to do with anything?"

"She doesn't have anything to do with this" Christine turned her back on them and walked back into the room. "That's why Red Queen wants to drag her in."

There was another sharp tap on her door.

"Listen I gotta get changed. I'll see you guys downstairs and figure something out."

"Wait. Here." Dick reached into his pocket and pulled out a spare communicator. "No matter what happens down there, remember we got your back."

Despite herself, Christine couldn't help but smile at the tree boys.

"Thanks guys."

* * *

Christine stared at the party before her, gulping as she fiddled with the front of her dress.

She was wearing a short black strapless dress with a skirt that ended just above the knee, complimenting the black and purple glamour charm she wore around her neck that turned her hair and eyes chocolate brown. Her hand ghosted over her upper thigh where she had hidden her utility garters, before settling her father's silver dog tags and the Court of Owls medallion down the front of her dress.

She fiddled with the silver seashell bracelet she kept on her wrist, her heart almost leaping out of her chest as she let herself be led around the sizeable formal dining hall and towards a corded-off set of stairs which led to the VIP area that overlooked the room at large.

At the top of the stairs, Ishan waited for her, offering her his arm with another smirk behind his mask.

"You look lovely, the dress suits you. Then again you always did look good in black."

"Nice try." Christine spat as she took his arm begrudgingly "But flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Still feisty" he chuckled under his breath as he led her around the balcony.

As they walked, Christine chanced a look down.

A sea of people filled the room, all of them dressed formally as they sat at the tables enjoying their luncheon. Some people flitted around the floor. Many of them were servers of the food; others were other guests who had left their seats to chat and greet other friends from across the room.

Amongst these people standing on the edges, Christine could see the top of four heads she had no trouble recognising.

Two gingers, one taller than the other, the dark head of her partner and a dark-skinned pale blonde head.

_Oh, my god, they brought Kaldur into this?!_

She gulped as the Atlantean raised his head and caught her eye. But before she could make any signal to him, Ishan dragged her away from the railing.

"You can sightsee later. Right now, the mistress is waiting for you."

Meanwhile down on the floor, Kaldur raised a hand to the com unit in his ear.

"I've seen Christine; she's up on the western balcony."

" _I see her_ " Roy's voice growled into his ear. " _It's a VIP area. Invitation only._ "

" _Looks like we're gonna have to crash the party then,_ " Wally smirked.

" _Yes but covertly_ " Dick hissed. " _If Red Queen knows we're here-Agh!"_

 _"_ _Dude what's-oh crap!"_ Wally gulped.

 _"_ _Dick! Wally?!"_ Roy suddenly fell silent.

"Everyone?" Kaldur hissed only to freeze as he felt something metallic and hard press into the small of his back.

"Make one move, and you're dead kid" a man's voice growled into his ear.

"May I help you, sir?" Kaldur asked politely but stilled where he stood, and the man smirked.

"Indeed, you can. The Red Queen requests the presence of you and your little friends at her party. Unless you want to risk the lives of your little friends." He jabbed the gun again into the young hero's back.

Kaldur could've just as quickly taken him down in a heartbeat, but even as he looked around the room, he could see Roy, Dick and Wally all being shunted out a door on the far end of the room.

"Lead the way" He scowled, sparing one last glance up at the balcony. Christine was gone, and only a few security guards stood up there in suits looking down over the party like silent sentinels.

They watched behind shades as the four younger boys were forced through a side door one after the other at gunpoint, unnoticed by all the other guests in the room.

They were quickly shoved through the hotel lobby, which was quiet and empty as they were all but thrown into one of the lifts.

"Wait, isn't that an-" Wally frowned as their captors pressed a button down to sub-level twenty-six.

"Express elevator. yeah." Dick's eyes narrowed as they looked around the inside of the massive lift.

"Just like Cadmus" Kaldur muttered under his breath as the lift slowed to a stop.

All four young heroes winced as they were suddenly pushed forwards beyond the lift which quickly shut behind them.

"What the-Where are we?" Roy shook his head out as he looked around. They all appeared to be in a corridor. It was long, narrow and had a crimson floor with white walls all illuminated in artificial white lights that almost blinded them even as they got to their feet.

"Okay, I take it back this is nothing like Cadmus" Wally rubbed his eyes as Dick beside him started trying to tap on his holographic computer in his watch.

"No signal." He muttered glancing at Kaldur who sighed.

"We're on our own"

"So is Chris" Roy growled as he reached to his back under his suit shirt and pulled out a collapsible bow. "Let's go."

They quietly stalked down the corridor, which they noticed had no doors whatsoever, until they reached the other end. The door before them opened automatically as they approached.

All they could see beyond it was pitch black.

"Dick, Wally, scan the room," Kaldur ordered.

Dick nodded, switching his mask to night vision mode while Wally brought down his red goggles and turned them to infrared.

"Nope, I got nothing." The speedster sighed as he continued to look around the room. If ever there was a time they needed Superboy's x-ray vision it was then.

Meanwhile, beside him, the Boy Wonder narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, I can't see much…it looks pretty empty to me." He admitted quietly.

"Only one way to find out" Roy growled, prepping a small pocket trick arrow from to his bow as he walked towards the door.

"Be careful." Kaldur reached under the back of his suit and pulled out his water bearers in readiness.

They all held their breath as with a cautious small step, Roy stepped into the room.

There was another flash of bright white as suddenly all the lights switched on.

"Well, well, well." A feminine voice smirked loudly, the sound almost ringing in all their ears "What do we have here?"

All four young heroes gasped as their vision cleared enough to see the space they'd just entered.

It appeared to be a large square pit, surrounded by a giant white catwalk elevated two stories' high in the air. On the far end opposite them on this catwalk was a glass platform where a woman stood. She was tall and curvaceous, with short blonde hair and pale luminous skin. She was wearing a very revealing, tight floor-length crimson dress and a black and white chequered domino mask over her eyes.

"Red Queen" Dick's lip curled at the sight of the woman who sneered down at them with blood red painted lips.

"Hello boys, it's been a while. Look at you, all so smart in your big boy suits. I could almost gobble you boys up, you're so adorable." she chuckled mockingly, her eyes lingering over each one of them as she stared them down in turn.

Despite himself, Kaldur couldn't help but shiver as the white lenses of the villainess's mask scanned him up and down. He felt so exposed and naked under that stare like she was a vulture picking him apart piece by piece.

He was glad when she straightened up and clicked her fingers in summoning.

"I do believe you were looking for  _this_?"

There was a shuffling above their heads, and they all looked up to see a young teenage girl in a black dress struggling as she was led onto the platform.

It was Christine, and she was looking pissed as Ishan Shahzad, dragged her by the arm towards her mother.

"I can walk by myself thank you very much" She snapped, and Kaldur felt the blood in his veins boil as his old rival's hands shoved her towards her mother roughly.

_How dare he manhandle her? After everything, he's done-_

"Easy Kal-" Roy growled grabbing the Atlantean's arm before he could angrily rush forward.

Meanwhile above them, Christine straightened up and glared at her mother.

"Where is she?"

"I'm sorry who?" Red Queen smirked derisively as her daughter stormed up to hiss in her face.

"Freddy, my best friend. You better tell me where she is right now or I'll rip your face off!" and even as she said this all the boys in the pit could see that her claw-like pale hands were ready to strike.

"Oh,  _that_ friend. Why didn't you say so, my dear?" Red Queen rolled her eyes, not even phased by the girl wonder's anger as she reached out to pinch her cheek "Don't worry, she is safe enough. For now."

She turned away to face the young heroes in the pit again.

"Bring up the board!" she commanded in a loud ringing tone.

At once the floor began to shake. Roy, Dick, Wally and Kaldur all looked down to the ground before them where the ground had split apart. Up from the depths of the shadows underneath a large platform ascended.

It was a gigantic black and white chessboard decked out with human-sized robotic chess pieces. The set opposite the young heroes was red while the one closest to them was black. It had no king piece.

Instead, there was a black metal throne in which a young girl with curly blonde hair, dark blue jeans and a canary yellow snow jacket was imprisoned with thick metal bands.

"Freddy!" Christine cried out fearfully from above as Dick dashed towards the girl. Her eyes were half-closed, and her face was slightly pale as she sat there in a daze.

"Dick?" she frowned as his face swam in and out of focus. "What's going on…I feel so…ugh…" she sighed as the Boy Wonder reached out to check her eyes.

"She's alright!" Dick called out after checking her vitals "She's just disoriented. Must be a sedative."

"You bitch" Christine snarled rounding on her mother, only to have Ishan restrain her swiftly.

"Uh-uh-uh! Temper, temper darling. You wouldn't want any  _accidents,_  now would you?" Red Queen gave a sharp glance back down to the unconscious girl, and the boy wonder, who froze as a sniper's red laser pointer suddenly focused on his forehead.

"Stand down Red" Christine shouted at Roy who had raised his bow and arrow to fire at the source of the laser. How could she have been so stupid?! Of course, her mother would have more guns in the room. The woman was more paranoid than Batman when it came to her protection.

She was relieved when Roy didn't fire the shot, though he kept the arrow fixed on the laser.

"It's no use little Speedy" Red Queen chuckled, drumming her fingers along the railing in front of her. "You might take out one of my guns, but twenty more will take their place and shoot you all where you stand. And don't even bother trying to fire at me" she added when the archer turned his weapon on her.

She was quick to press a switch in her hand, and a transparent blue barrier suddenly came up in front of her, cutting the upper level off from the pit.

Christine felt her gut sink.

Now she really had no way of reaching her friends.

Kaldur seemed to have noticed this too, for when their gazes met through the barrier, she could see the sudden rush of fear in his green eyes.

But it was quick to turn into determination as Wally jeered up at the older woman with a smirk.

"You think you're all that with your fancy tech and your giant killer chessboard, but we've faced worse."

"KF's right." Dick smirked "We've played your game before and beaten it before. And we'll do it again."

"So cocky." Red Queen shook her head, and Kaldur was eerily reminded of Christine whenever she was exasperated.

Now that he thought about it, the girl wonder had indeed inherited a lot of her mother's features, though it went unnoticed because of her different hair and eyes. Even her body, though still young and gangly in some places, showed the promise of a figure to rival that of the villainess before them.

Red Queen's lip curled in a broad sneer as she gestured to several of her goons who quickly strode onto the platform carrying a small black square chess table with a pair of matching black chairs. All of them were carrying guns.

"You know the rules of my game. If you win the round, you and all your little friends get to go no muss no fuss. But should you lose…" she trailed off as she looked to her daughter.

"Choose your pieces wisely dear." Her mother sauntered off to sit on one side of the table where she proceeded to lay out the chess pieces. She put the red on her side of the table and the black before her daughter's empty chair. "And remember Red goes first. You have five minutes to prepare your team."

"Of course," Christine's scowl deepened, but she said nothing as she squared her shoulders and walked over to the railings.

She could see all four of her friends looking between one another.

"What do we do now?" Kaldur muttered.

"Well usually in Red Queen's games whoever is on the board has to take the place of one of the chess pieces. Like Freddy here. She's currently taking up the King's place, so she's the king's piece." Dick pointed at the unconscious girl in the chair next to the large black queens' piece in front of them.

"Then whoever is facing Red Queen, i.e. Christine -" Dick then motioned to Christine who seemed to be deep in thought as she stared down at all of them from above. "-has to move the pieces on the chessboard they have up there. Whenever she moves a piece up there, we'll get a signal to which square we're supposed to move to down here. Usually, it'll light up but-"

"But be careful" Wally added his face turning sour "You can only stay on the squares your piece can move on. If you try to go off them, you'll get electrocuted to death."

"Or worse" Roy muttered one of his hands ghosting over his behind, much to Dick's amusement, though it was short lived as he made to check on the unconscious Freddy again.

"Don't worry Fred; we're gonna get you out of here." He squeezed the girl's shoulder as she let out a soft moan of pain.

There was a cough above them, and they all looked up to see Christine looking down at them, her face stiff with nerves.

"Alright. Red Arrow, I need you to take the Bishop on F7 next to Freddy." The square next to Freddy lit up, and the robotic chess bishop suddenly stepped off the board. Roy quickly strode over to take the spot just as Christine announced:

"Kid Flash I need you to take the Castle on A7, Queen's side." Wally was quick to zip over to his assigned square, thanking his lucky stars. It was always more comfortable for him to run in straight lines across the board.

"Aqualad, Take the other Castle's spot on H8 on the Kings Side" Kaldur nodded only to have to strain his ears as Dick hissed.

"Remember You can only move straight ahead or horizontally across the board."

"Robin!" Christine shouted over the top of her partner waspishly. "You're the pawn on D7 in front of the Queen."

"Hey look, Rob, you've finally got friends your size" Wally sniggered as Dick made his way to stand at the front with the other black pawns, who were all roughly his height.

"Ha-ha very funny" the Boy Wonder scowled as he flipped over the queen's head to take the pawns place in front of her. "Excuse me, your highness."

"Are you quite done?" Red Queen sighed in exasperation from her seat.

"Almost" Christine assured her with a scowl. She turned back to her friends, gulping down a huge breath.

They had never seen her looking more anxious.

"Christine!" Kaldur called out from his position, and she looked down at him chewing her lip apprehensively. "We'll be fine. Just focus on the game. We'll handle the rest."

"Kal's right, you got this one babe!" Wally cheered punching his fist into the air.

Despite herself, Christine felt her mouth twitch upwards in a small smirk.

"Let's play then!" she nodded quickly turning her back on the railing to face her mother.

_You can do this! Take it one move at a time, and remember you've got a team. You're not alone._

She told herself as with a straight back and a deep breath she took her seat opposite her mother.

Red Queen's eyes narrowed as her daughter faced her, eye to eye, expression blank as she calmed her mind.

Behind her, Ishan stood arms folded and watching the pair of them intently as they waited for the first move to be played.

"Let us begin." The Red Queen hissed, and suddenly half the lights in the pit went out so that only the board remained illuminated brightly.

Christine barely blinked as a spotlight suddenly shone down upon herself and her mother on the platform, illuminating their chessboard.

"Overdramatic as always." she snorted, and her mother chuckled darkly.

With a pale hand, she reached forward and took her red pawn in front of her red King and moved it up two spaces.

Down below on the giant chessboard, Dick, Wally, Kaldur and Roy all sucked in sharp breaths as a robotic red pawn suddenly strode forward two squares in front of them.

The game had begun.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, November 26 2010, 13:52 EDT** _

"I can't wait to see the look on Roy's face when we tell him the news" Dinah Lance grinned as she and her longtime boyfriend Oliver Queen followed Bruce Wayne into the manor.

"He's earned it." Bruce nodded with a smirk, and indeed he meant it. In the past few months Roy Harper had struck out on his own as Red Arrow, he had done sterling work as a solo hero.

Batman thought back to Halloween where he had invited the Red Archer to join him in taking down that shipment of illegal, dangerous weapons. Both he and Aqualad had successfully taken down Killer Croc on their own and more than half of Penguin's troupe without the need of any help. The fact that the archer had held his own against the misanthropic man-eating crocodile man was no mean feat, even by Batman's high standards.

"You're talking about Roy. I can't wait to see the looks on the others faces" Oliver smirked "Can you imagine Wally's face when we tell him? That kid's jaw won't ever come off the ground-"

"Ah, Master Bruce. You're back" a voice called.

"Hello, Alfred" Bruce's smirk quickly transformed into a frown as he caught sight of the slightly anxious look in the butler's eye.

"Ah I see you've brought guests."

"Sorry Alfred," Dinah smiled apologetically "We came here looking for Roy. He said he'd be here hanging out with Dick and Christine."

Alfred quirked a confused brow.

"I'm very sorry but to my memory, Mister Harper has not called here, and Miss Christine and Master Dick have both been out of the house since this morning."

"Maybe they decided to meet up in the city?" Oliver sighed. "Damn. We had some good news for him too."

"Did they say where they were going to meet up?" Bruce asked quietly, not liking the worried look that flashed over Alfred's eyes.

"Unfortunately no sir they did not. Miss Chris,tine left on her own and young master Dick followed her soon after. I only received his message about an hour after they'd gone."

"Hmm." Bruce's eyes narrowed. Dick wasn't one to be so secretive about where they were going. And if they were going to hang out with Roy, they'd not split up and go at separate times…

Bruce looked to Dinah and Oliver who groaned.

"Oh no, I know that face. Something's wrong isn't it?"

Bruce nodded, sighing as he checked his own black holo-graphic wrist computer. "And of course, they've hijacked the Batmobile-"

"It would appear your young charges have once again pulled a fast one on you sir" Alfred shook his head as

Dinah sighed.

Roy, Dick and Christine were mysteriously missing and had stolen the Batman's car?

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

_**The Boathouse, November 26 2010, 14:49 EDT** _

"Your move my dear."

Christine Hallows felt her heart hammering as she looked down at the chessboard in front of her.

So far she'd lost five of her eight pawns, both her knights, one of her bishops and worst of all her queen.

Her remaining three pawns stood in front of where Kaldur and a still very disoriented Freddy stayed in the corner of the board in a defensive castling manoeuvre, while Wally zipped up and down in front of them as a second layer of protection.

Dick and Roy were still thankfully in play, but she could hear them panting for breath as they swiped down pieces that had tried to take them down.

They had all long since removed their tuxes and suits, as they had been destroyed from their fights with other violent chess pieces that had attacked them whenever they came into contact on the board. Even then their hero suits were starting to take a beating.

Kaldur had barely a scratch on him, thanks to staying castled safely along with Freddy behind the pawns. Wally had ditched his penguin suit after friction had caused the pants to wear out, yet now he had sustained several bruises from another red castle playing opposite him. Roy had a few shallow cuts on his knees and legs from where a red pawn had tried to slice at his ankles. Dick had no cape, and his back had a small scratch where one of the Red bishops had tried skewering him with its spear.

This wasn't good, Christine bit her lip as she glanced down to the arena where her friends fought on the giant chessboard.

She was banking on Dick on reaching the end of the board with as little damage as possible, so she could promote him to the position of Queen and end the game sooner rather than later. Like her, her mother Red Queen had also castled her king and castle early in the game, yet she still had more significant pieces in play over the board.

With her friends starting to tire out from literally battling it out with the larger pieces every time they met on a square, Christine knew she'd have to find a way to sneak behind her mother's defences soon for a checkmate or risk losing the game.

She scowled as her mother smirked at her from across the table.

She had just moved her red knight forwards, threatening Dick's position, three spaces away from the edge of the board. It was also on a black square diagonally across from Roy. But, if she got Roy to capture the piece he'd then be snatched up by one of the red pawns defending the knight from behind!

Dick also faced the same dilemma, for if he moved one square forward, he risked being captured by one of the three pawns in front of him.

The only way Dick was ever reaching the end of that board and checkmating the king was if Roy sacrificed himself and she put Wally into play in his stead as Robin's defence.

But that would leave Kaldur and Freddy more open to attack.

Christine shivered. She did not want to risk letting her opponent taking another one of her friends. To the Red Queen, chess wasn't merely a game. She had no qualms with her robots killing her opponent's human pieces on the board if they didn't voluntarily surrender.

"Oh Christine, sometimes I marvel at your naivety." Red Queen chuckled at her daughter's hesitancy. "It's been two years since our last match, and you still don't understand that winning takes sacrifice."

Christine stayed silent, gulping as she fingered the black bishop before her.

_I'm sorry Roy._

She captured the red knight.

Meanwhile down on the board, Roy sighed heavily as the black square under the red knight lit up with a blue light.

He and the rest of the boys had been keeping track of the game for a while, and he knew what was going to go down.

He notched an exploding trick arrow on his bow and fired across the board diagonally at the red castle piece. With sparks and a small explosion, the robot's scraps fell to the floor as Roy strode forwards on his diagonal to take its place.

Dick glanced at him warningly, but the red archer only nodded.

"You still have your grapple gun?" he whispered doing his best to move his lips as little as possible.

"Yeah sure, why?" Dick frowned.

"For just in case" they heard Kaldur mutter softly in their ears. "Once the game is over, you and Wally will get the hostage off the board. Roy and I will take care of the barrier between us and Christine."

"Got it" Dick muttered back as a Red Pawn turned on them both.

Roy raised his hands in surrender, much to Red Queen's surprise from above.

"Willingly giving up? Smart boy." the villainess's eyebrows rose smugly as Roy quietly walked off the board and to the side where two of Red Queen's henchmen quickly grabbed hold of him.

_What the-Roy what are you up to?_

Christine frowned as she used her echolocation to pinpoint the archer's location.

It wasn't like him to go quietly.

_God, I hope you don't do anything stupid._

She pushed Dick's pawn forwards diagonally to capture the pawn that had captured Roy.

Back on the board, Dick leapt upon the red pawn, which held up a red sword in its defence. With a couple of quick smacks with his eskrima sticks, the Boy Wonder was ready to defend himself against the smaller slashing robot.

Two parries, a dodge another parry and then winced as a blade accidentally managed to slice his side.

"Robin!" Roy, Wally and Kaldur cried out, but already Dick had flipped over the robot's head and stuck one of his eskrima sticks through its neck.

With a splutter and a spark, the robot dropped to the floor.

"Rob!" Christine dashed to the railing and looked down at her partner.

"I'm okay" he winced, clutching at the gash on his side. It wasn't too deep, but it would need stitches. He hoped he didn't have to face off against another robot. He didn't want to risk the wound widening any further.

He looked up at Christine, and her face was pale.

"Finish it" he grunted.

"But Rob-"

"Finish the game" he gritted his teeth as he put a hand up to the commlink in his ear. "When the game is over, stall as long as possible. We've got a plan."

"You better, I'm running out of plays here!" Christine hissed, biting her lip as she saw a nearby red bishop move dangerously close to threaten the thee pawns in front of Kaldur and Freddy. If any of her mother's pieces checkmated her friend, there would be more red blood on that board.

No. she was so close.

She'd have to risk it.

She turned back to her mother and strode back over to their game, though she did not sit down.

Instead, she moved Wally's castle up the board to capture the last pawn close to Robin. There was a zap as Wally almost tripped over his own feet in a mad dash to get to his new spot.

"I seriously hate this game" the speedster growled as Robin quickly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back up.

Meanwhile, up on the platform, Christine watched as her mother's red bishop capture a black pawn piece diagonally next Freddy.

On the large board below, Kaldur gulped as he saw the robot raise a sharp spear to rest under Freddy's throat as she sat still bound to the King's black throne.

"Check" Red Queen smirked.

"Kaldur, you're up." Christine moved the Atlantean's piece forward and captured the bishop.

Kaldur was quick to dispose of the attacking piece, slicing through it with his water blades, before it could even raise the spear in the air.

Her mother was quick to position the last of her red knights in an L shape threatening Kaldur's position, but Christine was just as swift to reach out and move Kaldur quickly one space back out of harm's way.

Red Queen then moved her Queen piece forward threateningly capturing another one of her pawns in front of Kaldur diagonally next to Freddy, brandishing her sword.

"Check again."

"Damn!" Christine grunted as she made to capture her mother's queen with Kaldur's piece.

Kaldur quickly raised his water bearers up to defend his face as the red queen piece bore down upon him. She was more robust than the lesser pieces he had faced off so far, and it took all his strength to keep her at bay as his glowing blue swords and her greatsword locked against one another.

"Kaldur look out!" Wally cried out as the red queen on the board pushed Kaldur to the edge of the square.

The red glowing square behind him crackled threateningly with an electric charge. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Christine looking down on them from above.

Though she did her best to keep herself in check, he could see the fear still gleaming in her wide brown eyes as the shadow of Ishan hovered just behind her.

Unbidden, the memory of her frightened yells, echoed in his head like the clanging of a giant bell. Atlantean's black eel tattoos sparked with blue lightning as they clenched tightly around his weapons.

There were a slice and a flash of light as one of the water-bent swords slashed across the red chess queen's throat, severing it off completely. The decapitated red robotic head flew into the air and off the board, where it rolled towards the feet of Roy and his two captors who flanked him.

The archer's jaw clenched a little as he caught sight of the gleam in his friend's eye as he turned to face the platform.

He'd heard that still waters ran deep, yet to see his friend's true temper up close and personal before, was not something he was sure he liked.

The Atlantean's green glare was especially nasty as it turned upon Ishan's hand which was gripping Christine's arm tight.

"I move Robin up one space and promote him to queen piece." the girl wonder growled shoving Ishan off before storming over to her small board.

With a hard swipe of her hands, she snatched the small black pawn that had been Robin and replaced it with the discarded queen from her mother's side. "Checkmate."

"Christine now" Kaldur's voice hissed in her ear.

There was a flash of red under the Red King, and suddenly the lights beneath the giant chessboard dimmed.

Red Queen's lip curled as she looked down at the black queen who now was checking her red king who was trapped in the farthest corner by her four pawns who were all now in danger of either Wally or Kaldur taking them and checking the king if they dared to move.

_Clap. Clap. Clap._

"Brava." the villainess clapped slowly, mockingly, a wide sneer spreading over her pale, beautiful masked face. "Well done. You certainly have improved since last time."

"Are we done?" Christine snapped, fists clenching by her sides. She'd had enough of the games. Her friends were injured, her best friend was drugged and to top it off she really wanted to punch Ishan in the face for his manhandling.

As if sensing her bloodlust, her mother chuckled where she sat.

"The game is done. But you and I still have much to discuss-"

"No!" Christine grabbed the sides of the chess table and leaned into her mother's space.

There were several loud clicks as all her mother's henchmen's guns suddenly focused on her.

_Guys hurry!_

She thought desperately.

What she didn't see was Roy as he quietly smothered one of the goon's guarding him, while Kid Flash zoomed off the giant chessboard to quickly knock out the other one before he could open his mouth.

"Dick." Kaldur hissed into his ear com, and with a couple of flips, Dick stealthily landed next to him and Freddy.

"Already on it." The Boy Wonder grunted as he deftly picked the locks on the girl's chair before whispering into his com "Wally get over here."

Meanwhile, upon the platform, all eyes were pinned on Christine as she stared her mother down threateningly.

"No?" The Red Queen repeated, her voice soft and delicate like the edge of a knife. "You'd speak so rudely to your mother."

"You're not my mother." Christine sneered. "I may share my genetics with you, but you never raised me."

"Perhaps I could've if your grandfather hadn't been such a conniving bastard" her mother murmured rising in her seat.

"How much do you know about him?" Christine put a hand up to her ear to block her commlink.

"Enough to know his  _Talons_  reach farther and wider than you could ever know" Her mother snapped, her hand raising up to the neckline of her daughter's chest where the silver military dog tags and the Court of Owls pendant both glimmered faintly in the spotlight above.

"I wonder, do your dear little friends know your secret?"

"I've got a better question." Christine's smirk widened as she leaned into her mother's ear "Does your  _dear little friend_  Luthor know yours?"

She was pleased to feel her mother's body stiffen suddenly as still as stone.

"You were a Talon, weren't you? My Grandfather took you in and trained you to be one of his stooges. That's why you became a criminal."

"I see you've done your homework" her mother smiled coldly, her nostrils flaring angrily under her mask.

"It wasn't that difficult." Christine muttered, "Once I figured out the truth, the rest was simple guesswork."

"Simple, you say?" Red Queen hissed, venom lacing her every syllable. "You should know by now my dear, that nothing is ever simple in Gotham."

Christine pulled away from her mother, the goons guns following her every move.

She had no way off the platform with the electromagnetic barrier was still in place, and though she was nimble, there was no way she could dodge over fifteen guns trained on her, not including the automated snipers set at vantage points in the room.

"Guys, I could really use some help now" she mumbled into her commlink.

"One big distraction, coming right up" Dick smirked in her ear.

She heard a sharp twang in her sensitive ears.

It was a red exploding trick arrow. It hit the dark roof and a pipe burst, spraying everyone with torrents of cold icy water.

Christine saw her chance.

She leapt upon the guards behind her, narrowly avoiding a spray of bullets aimed her way. Instead, they hit their fellow goons who fell dead quickly.

"Stop shooting!" her mother commanded angrily, and the trigger-happy gunmen quickly pulled back "Use force but don't shoot. We need her alive-"

"Crap" Christine grumbled as two of the men rushed towards her.

"Aqualad! Now!" she heard Roy call out.

There was a sudden flash of bright blue-white light from below. Red Queen and her goons wheeled around in shock as what looked like a giant eel-like serpent made entirely of water and lightning suddenly reared up before them.

On its head Kaldur stood water bearers raised, his tattooed arms and eyes glowing white hot as he manoeuvred the creature he had summoned with his energy. With a crash it smashed itself against the barrier, shorting it as the electrical power surged from the beast's mouth and Kaldur's flashing tattoos.

It appeared Kaldur's spell had overloaded the barrier with too much energy to hold as it very quickly exploded in a cloud of smoke.

Christine ducked just in time from the blast, feeling a pair of hands grab at her. She aimed a swipe as Ishan tried pulling her to her feet.

"Stop struggling, I'm trying to help-" he snarled only to wince as her elbow flung out and hit him in the jaw.

"Get off me!" she snarled stepping on his toe with her heel and then spinning around to knee him in the groin.

He fell to the floor with a splutter, clutching between his legs. Christine, however, did not have time to admire her handiwork as she was set upon by three men.

With a speed that would've made the Flash jealous, she pulled out a small smoke grenade from one of her purple utility garters under her skirts.

She threw down the smoke bomb at the men's feet, her fist and heeled shoes smashing into them as she took them down.

_BANG!_

She gasped as someone grabbed hold of her and tackled her to the ground to avoid the gunshot.

"I told you not to struggle" A strained voice hissed angrily in her ear.

_What the hell?_

"Ishan what the-" Christine stared aghast as Ishan pushed her away from the gunfire.

She rolled to her hands and knees only to find a hand grabbing at her hair.

"Careful Felix, I need her in one piece so play nice." her mother purred from where she stood. She was standing at the edge of the railing with several of her goons and firing her red pistol at Kaldur, who was dodging her attacks.

He winced as one of her bullets grazed by his cheek and ear, cutting both and sending small droplets of red splashing to the floor.

"Oh no, you don't!"

With a snarl the girl wonder's leg kicked upwards in a vertical split, her toes smashing into Felix's face. He reeled backwards, falling to the ground as she swept her leg out in a kick under his feet, before lunging at her mother.

Red Queen saw her through the corner of her eye, yet even as she redirected the gun, her daughter had already pulled out a sharp birdarang from her garter.

With a sharp  _ting_ , the metal projectile flicked the firearm out of the older woman's hands.

She was swift to block her daughter's vicious swipe to the face, though she still winced as sharp talon-like nails dug into her arm, leaving three large gashes.

Christine smelt the iron in her nostrils, and her eyes flashed as she saw her mother quickly reach down for another gun laying on the ground.

But Christine was faster.

She wasn't sure what had happened. The smell of blood in her nostrils had ignited a flame inside her that blazed furiously with every breath she took.

Soon she had the gun in her hand and was pointing it at her mother's masked face.

She felt the energy surge from where her finger hovered over the trigger. To think that with one pull it would all be over. The disgusting woman's life before her would be extinguished, never again would she hurt anyone. She sucked in a deep breath as she observed her mother take a step back from her, hands raising in the air in surrender.

For the first time in her life, her mother looked frightened, of her. For once she wasn't the baby people stared down at condescendingly. Now she had the power. Now she had the control.

_Let the gun go now._

She could hear Batman's voice in the back of her mind. It sounded so distant to her ears.

_Why should I let it go?_

Another voice snarled in her ear. It was her voice, or rather Swifts voice as it was darker in pitch. But it could not be Swift's voice. When she was in her costume, she never spoke with such malicious delight.

Not like how her mother did just then with a sneer.

"What are you waiting for? Do it! Shoot me."

Despite herself, Christine could feel a smirk playing on her lips as she took a step towards her mother, her finger now resting on the trigger. She didn't apply any pressure, she merely kept it there as a warning, delighting viciously in the way the older woman before her was backing away into the railing of the platform.

She hadn't felt this powerful in a long time.

It was thrilling, it was  _intoxicating_.

_Just one squeeze. That's all it takes._

She thought savagely as she started to put pressure on the trigger. God it was so tempting to just snap her finger and end it all, but she wanted to watch her mother squirm first.

"Chris" a hand grabbed at her shoulder.

She looked to the source. It was Roy. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide.

It was then she realised that she was shaking all over.

"So weak." her mother sneered, lip curling with pleasure as she watched the "Fine go. You've won this round!"

There was a flash of smoke, and suddenly Red Queen vanished without a trace.

"Chris, drop the gun. Now." Roy's voice hissed in her head as he quickly snatched the gun from her grip and threw it away. But she didn't seem to hear them as she looked around the glass platform.

The chess table and chairs were turned over, water still spraying from the burst pipes above. All around herself and Roy, all Red Queen's henchmen lay motionless and unmoving. Those that had been shot by friendly fire, lay in pools of blood and brain matter in odd positions over the glass floor.

It was a grisly sight, even for Roy Harper.

"Come on" He shoved Christine towards Kaldur who pulled her quickly back onto the enchanted watery-energy eel's head, doing his best to cover Christine's shocked gaze. Roy was quick to follow as they leapt down to the giant chessboard below.

"Freddy" Christine sighed as she caught sight of Freddy, limply slung over Wally's shoulder as Dick quickly hacked at the door that led to the corridor with the lift.

"Got it, there-agh!" the boy wonder hissed as he pulled his injured side too roughly.

"Come on; we gotta move," Roy grunted as he picked a now swaying Dick up, slinging one arm around his shoulder.

"Right…move…" Christine murmured, still trembling violently as she and the others made their way towards the elevator down that dark, windowless corridor.

"Wait" Christine growled grabbing Dick's holo-computer watch from his wrist. She was quick to hack into the system and get to the elevator controls.

"Set it to go to underground parking level one!" Dick groaned. "Batmobile's parked there."

"Seriously? You parked it in the parking lot?" Wally rolled his eyes as they all dashed into the lift.

"Hey! Not all of us have superspeed." Dick grumbled as he clutched at his side. It was bleeding through his hand.

"You idiot, you've strained it too much! Roy, you got any bandages."

"Not enough to patch him up" Roy shook his head.

"I'm all out too" Wally apologised, and Kaldur shook his head.

"Looks like we'll have to improvise" the girl wonder sighed.

"Whoa-whoa Missy-" he tried protesting, but Christine would hear none of it as she raised her hands to her dress's skirt.

There was a loud tearing sound, and at once the short black skirt ripped away to reveal a pair of legs with lacy black boyleg panties and purple utility garters. Without pausing to think she wrapped the scraps of her dress around her partner's hand and pressed it against his wound.

"Thanks" he muttered, wincing as pain shot through his side. "Nice underwear."

"Where's my bag?" Christine sighed, rolling her eyes at Wally who coughed and flushed pink at the sight of her bare legs.

"I-I-uh-I put it in the Batmobile while you were getting changed upstairs" Wally grunted as he shifted the unconscious girl's weight on his back. He was quick to turn his gaze away when Kaldur's narrowed eyes suddenly burned in his direction draping a protective arm around his girlfriend.

"No need to get jealous Kal. We've seen her in her swimsuits before" Roy rolled his eyes pointedly at the Atlantean, though Christine was quick to notice his worry as he met her eye.

She gulped and looked away just as the doors to the elevators opened out onto a carpark. Apart from themselves and the many, many cars (most of them, luxury models), they appeared to be entirely alone.

They spotted the Batmobile quickly, parked in a dark corner, away from prying eyes.

"I'll drive" Christine snatched the keys from Dick's yellow utility belt and rushed towards the car.

"I know she's your girlfriend Kaldur but damn! Those legs!" Wally whistled as they saw the girl wonders' bare pale, high heeled, purple gartered legs dash off and slide into the driver's seat.

Kaldur had to admit, his girlfriend's creamy shapely thighs and firm behind was quite a beautiful sight to behold. He only wished he could've seen them under better circumstances.

Christine was quick to drive the black vehicle towards them, springing the doors open.

"Get in!"

"We won't all fit" Dick growled. And indeed, he was right. The Batmobile was not designed to hold six people, and then there was Freddy to worry about!

The girl was still drowsy from her sedation. She was so out of it that she barely seemed to register the world around her even as she draped over the speedsters' back. It shook Christine to her core to see her bright, bubbly best friend so devoid of life.

"Wally," Kaldur barked at the speedster "Do you think you could run yourself and Freddy to a hospital?"

"Which one" Wally quickly pulled down his Kid Flash goggles over his eyes.

"Gotham General." Dick panted as Roy helped him into one of the back seats of the Batmobile. "Ask for Leslie Thompkins. Tell her Batman sent you."

"What about you?" Wally pursed his lips.

"The Batcave," Christine answered tersely. "Alfred can patch him up."

"Alright. Call me if you need anything" Wally gave a two-fingered salute and then zipped off, the barely conscious girl still on his back.

As soon as he was out of sight, Christine shifted the car into gear.

"Buckle up." She grunted to Kaldur who was sitting beside her in the passenger seat.

"Oh crap, I forgot about your crazy driving" Roy mumbled from his spot next to Dick in the back seat.

But neither of them had time to laugh or do anything for that matter as quick a sharp hit on the accelerator they sped out of the carpark and onto the street.

Away from Red Queen.

Away from the game.

* * *

_**Gotham Academy, November 30 2010, 19:34 EDT** _

"Back straighter Christine."

"Yes Madame"

"No-no! Extend more on that Arabesque. I want a clean, smooth line. More allongé!"

"Yes Madame"

"Good, that releve is looking much better, but remember, relax the face. You're looking too stiff. You need to relax."

"Yes Madame"

"Stop-stop! Your jumps are too strong, too aggressive. They need to be lighter as if you're stepping on a cloud. Remember Clara is a delicate child, her footsteps are light and playful. Therefore you must be as soft and as airy. If I wanted someone stomping around, I would've asked Martin to perform"

"Yes Madame"

"That's enough! Start your warm downs, Christine."

"Yes Madam"

Christine Hallows sighed as she took a sip of water from her bottle. She was in the Gotham Academy Ballet studio, practising her Nutcracker recital choreography with her instructor Madame Fletcher.

It had been nearly three days since her Chess Battle with Red Queen. Three days since Freddy had been drugged and her friends injured.

The Batman, of course, had not been happy that they'd once again hijacked the Batmobile. Indeed, he was almost spitting fire furious when he stormed down to the Batcave and found Christine and Roy hauling a pale-faced Dick towards the medical bay.

However, the Dark Knight's anger quickly abated somewhat when the young red-haired archer had told him about the emergency circumstances surrounding the theft and the injuries.

Freddy was now at home recovering in her sick bed. The sedative the Red Queen's goons had used on her had been a powerful one, but thankfully the dosage wasn't life-threatening.

Wally, Kaldur and Roy all were commended highly by Black Canary and Green Arrow (who had both been helping the Batman try to locate the missing teens) for their valour in defeating Red Queen. Dick too was praised for his efforts. However, he was benched until the wound on his side was completely healed.

Christine meanwhile, had found herself all but smothered by an anxious Alfred, who had been quick to cover up her half-naked body with a towel and usher her to the side with a steaming mug of his famous hot-chocolate.

He of all people knew just how rattled Christine got whenever she was near her birth mother.

During the last deadly chess match Christine had played against the villainess two years ago, it had been Alfred who'd been kidnapped and held to ransom in the king's throne. He had fared far better than Freddy had during his capture, for he had not been drugged. In fact, he had managed to free himself of his bonds and play actively in the game, shooting an offending red rook with a discarded weapon.

Alfred was, now that Christine thought about it, the only member of her family that could use a firearm and not get in trouble.

Though maybe that was because he had years of experience as a spy to back him up.

Christine smirked to herself as she stretched out her hamstrings, thoughts of Alfred dressed up and strutting around like James Bond with a martini (Shaken not stirred) amusing her greatly.

Try as hard as she might; she could never imagine the old butler as a young man. As far as she had known him, he had always been stiff upper lipped, grey-haired and straight-laced. However, if any of his old flames were anything to go by he must've been handsome in his youth.

_Well, whatever he looked like in the past, he still hasn't lost his charm._

Christine sighed as she switched into a forwards split on the floor.

She stared at her reflection in the mirrors behind the Barre.

She still wore the black and purple glamour charm around her neck to keep her appearance normal. She had only just convinced the Gotham Ballet Corps costume department to let her keep it on throughout the performance as part of her costume. It had been a hard slog, but Christine was persistent and like all good Gotham rich girls, knew how to push for what she wanted.

_Perks of being a spoiled brat_

She snorted to herself as she slowly got up to her feet and began stretching out her arms. She could see Madame Fletcher in the mirror, packing up all her equipment and gear for the day.

"Well, I think that should be everything." The older woman sighed "You have all your gear then?"

"Yes, and thanks for the session. I really needed it." Christine sighed as she grabbed her jacket and pulled it tight around her as the two of them exited the studio.

"Not at all Christine" Madame Fletcher spared the young girl a rare smile as she locked the door behind them. "You've done well today. Just a bit more training and you'll have that audience on their feet begging for that encore you mark my words."

"Yeah sure, if I don't fall to pieces getting onto the stage" Christine rolled her eyes. She was terrible with public speaking, but the idea of performing in front of a humongous crowd.

She shuddered.

"You'll be fine" Madame Fletcher smirked, "most of the audience is in the dark, you won't even see their faces when you perform."

"I hope so" Christine grumbled.

The older woman chuckled. There was silence as the older Madame and the young Ballerina both walked down the stairs and out the building.

They were quick to roll up to the front gates where a groundskeeper stood waiting for them with a scowl.

He looked tired as he opened the gate, however, didn't say a word as he received a sharp glower from Madame Fletcher.

"That man. Seriously. It's only one day, and he gets paid overtime" she shook her head as she escorted Christine to a shiny black sports car.

"Hey, Alfred!" Christine tapped on the window which quickly rolled down.

But it wasn't Alfred's old face that greeted her.

"Dad?"

"Mister Wayne! What a surprise" Madame Fletcher blinked, blushing like a schoolgirl as the billionaire playboy himself smirked out of the window.

"Hello, Madame Fletcher. How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you, Mister Wayne. And yourself?" Madame Fletcher coughed as she did her best to compose herself, a feat not helped by Bruce's polite smile.

"I'm doing fine. Alfred's busy at the Manor so I thought it would be nice to pick up Christine myself. Say it's quite dark, perhaps we could offer you a lift?"

Christine rolled her eyes.

Just because Bruce Wayne had to be a charming playboy, didn't always mean he had to charm the pants off every female he met did it?

Madame Fletcher, however, did not notice her exasperation, as she coughed and giggled.

"That's alright Mister Wayne I've got my car parked just a little bit behind yours. But thank you anyway, it was kind of you to offer."

"Not at all. It's the least I could do since you've done so much for my goddaughter" Bruce smiled.

"Oh, it's my pleasure I assure you" Madame Fletcher smiled down at Christine warmly. "Christine is one of my most talented, hardworking pupils I've ever taught. The Gotham Ballet Corps is truly lucky to have her performing this year."

Now it was Christine's turn to blush scarlet and was grateful when Madame Fletcher's phone alarm beeped.

After a quick goodnight and goodbye, Christine hopped into the swanky black sportscar.

"Aren't you cold?" her godfather asked as she strapped herself in.

"A little. But its okay." She shrugged, awkwardness replacing her embarrassment as he drove away from the school grounds.

She hadn't been alone like this with her godfather for a very long time, especially when out of uniform. Usually, Dick was there to break the ice between them. Now there was silence as the billionaire steered the car.

Bruce glanced at her as they stopped a red light.

"How are you holding up?"

"Alright…I guess" she glanced sideways at him gripping her duffel bag tighter in her lap.

"Roy told me about what happened with Red Queen and the gun."

Christine's heart sank. She'd been afraid of this. One of Bruce's cardinal rules was never to handle or use a gun in any shape or form. And not only had she broken that rule, but she had almost used it to kill someone.

"It's okay." He reached out to grab her hand in his own larger one.

Christine blinked, staring up at her grandfather with wide eyes. His gaze was surprisingly tender as he squeezed her hand gently. Was this really the same man who raised her? The man who despised guns with such a vehement hatred that could only be rivalled by his hatred of the Joker.

As if guessing her thoughts, Bruce's smile faltered, though he did not let go of her hand.

"I know how manipulative our enemies can be" he murmured "Sometimes they know just the right things to do to get into your head and mess with it. And the longer you've faced them, the more they know how to press your buttons."

"And I completely fell for it" Christine shook her head angrily, remembering all too clearly the sight of the bullet barely missing Kaldur's cheekbone and the smell of the blood. "I fell for it, like such a noob. I don't know how you manage to do it."

"Because I learnt how." Bruce let go of her hand as the light turned green for them. "Do you think I just woke up one day with complete self-control? No. It's taken me years to reach this level of discipline, and believe you me; it wasn't easy."

"I know…it's just…I've been doing hero work for four years now. I just thought, I thought I had control already" Christine bit her lip and gulped down hard on the lump welling up in her throat.

"Christine," Bruce sighed "You do have control, but you're also a teenager, and your hormones are still raging around wreaking havoc with your body and your emotions. It's perfectly natural that your control slips from time to time."

"There's a difference between period mood swings and almost killing someone dad" Christine hissed.

"I know." Bruce sighed again "I was just trying to say-"

"I know what you were trying to say" Christine cut across him as she looked out the window onto the dark Gotham streets. "And it's sweet you're trying to make me feel better, but it still doesn't change the fact I wanted to kill her and would've done so if Roy hadn't stopped me."

Bruce was silent as he continued to drive through the streets of Gotham. All was surprisingly quiet tonight, not a rogue in sight, nor even a pickpocket. With the weather getting colder by the day, fewer people flocked out onto the streets, preferring the warmth and heat of the indoors.

Only villains like Mister Freeze or the Penguin ever really ventured out during these frigid months, but both were safely locked away in their cells now.

"You think I don't lose it sometimes?" Bruce muttered finally after a solid five minutes of silence. "Do you think I'm not tempted to snap a rogue's neck or pull a trigger and blast a bullet into their skulls?"

Christine looked at her godfather's face. It was grim as he kept his eyes set on the road ahead, much like how the Batman would when on patrol.

"There have been so many times I've wanted to end it all" his knuckles clenched over the steering wheel. "

"What stops you?" Christine asked quietly.

"You," Bruce replied simply, glancing back at her. "You, Dick, Alfred. If ever I'm on patrol and I feel like I'm slipping I tune into one of you on my commlink. It doesn't work all the time, but it helps."

Christine could feel her eyes burn. Bruce had always been somewhat distant when it came down to discussing his feelings with anyone, except perhaps Alfred. Even more strange, was to realise he probably knew exactly how she felt.

He knew what it was like to stand at the edge of the void and be tempted to leap straight in headfirst. And more amazing still, he didn't judge her for feeling those emotions so strongly.

She quickly turned away, wiping at her eyes as they began to stream hot tears, not noticing that he had pulled the car over to the side of the street.

Her heart felt so full to bursting when he unbuckled his seatbelt and reached over to wrap his arms tight around her.

"I know I can be smothering sometimes, and I understand you want space. But if you do need to talk, I'm always right here, and I'll listen."

"Thanks, Dad." She hiccupped as she returned the embrace.

Meanwhile outside, high up on a rooftop, the tall shadow of a Talon watched the car through their owl shaped goggles, sighing in relief as he caught sight of the man and his goddaughter hugging one another tight.

"Thank you, Bruce."

The voice of Stuart Hallows Junior whispered into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's Chapter 22 done. practically all of it had to be re-written, hence why it took so long to post.
> 
> So yeah, you guys get a better taste of Red Queen and what she can do. It took a long while to figure out how to plan out the killer chess game (I'm completely hopeless at Chess XD). I hope you guys enjoyed finally getting to see what confrontation between Christine and her mother actually would look like, especially since it's the start of Christine's own personal Rogues Gallery.
> 
> Anyways, I've got to get going, keep reviewing and faving for more and I'll see you guys next time.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	23. Insecurity & Intertwined

_**Mount Justice, December 5 2010, 20:18 EDT** _

_The cave was quiet as Christine and Kaldur both curled up together on the common room couch as they watched movies._

_M'gann and Conner were out on a date together at the Beach outside. Dick was hanging out at Wally's house, playing video games and Artemis and Zatanna had gone to Happy Harbor to hang out and chill._

_This left the girl wonder and her Atlantean blissfully alone together in the cave (If you didn't count Red Tornado staying upstairs in his private workshop.)_

_"_ _Now we can walk, now we can run, now we can stay all day in the su~n!" A chorus sang as the Disney Princess, and her prince stood to wave in their wedding garments._

_They were watching the Little Mermaid at Kaldur's insistence._

_He was fascinated by the surface world's depictions of what they thought about the Sea. Also, he was sick of not understanding the rest of the team's obscure references to the movie. He had felt he would be insulted, yet he found himself increasingly amused by the childish simplicity, and surprisingly in awe of the animation._

_The drawings had moved so seamlessly, and the characters seemed so alive against the beautifully painted backgrounds. Whoever had made the movie had talent, whatever the silly plot._

_"_ _There you have it, the Little Mermaid." Christine rolled her eyes at the screen as the credits started to run._

_"_ _Finally" Kaldur chuckled wrapping his arm tighter around her so that she lay half draped over his chest while he rested on his back._

_"_ _So what did you think?" Christine blinked up at him, resting her chin on his chest._

_"_ _The music was childish, but the art was incredible." He murmured, pale green eyes slightly distant. "Is this the only movie they've made about the Atlantis?"_

_"_ _No, they've got Atlantis: The Lost Empire. That one's okay. It's more an adventure." Christine sighed into his chest which vibrated as he chuckled._

_"_ _I take it you're not a fan of romances?" She could feel his heart flutter a little through his thin white tank top as he stroked her dark brown hair._

_"_ _Nah, not really" Christine snorted. "You?"_

_"_ _Depends on the romance" he smirked as he reached up for her neck._

_"_ _Smooth Talker" Christine smirked as she felt him finger the clasp of her glamour charm. She had forgotten to take it off after her Ballet rehearsal._

_"_ _Thanks." She breathed as he put the purple and black charm aside on the coffee table "Thank god Arty wasn't here when I came in."_

_"_ _Indeed" Kaldur smoothed out her now snowy white locks from her face. "There, perfect."_

_Christine blushed a dark vermillion as he cupped her cheek and pulled her in for a kiss._

_It wasn't often the two of them could relax like this. Kaldur relished the moment, grateful for an excuse where he could let his guard down and enjoy himself with the girl he'd grown so fond of._

_"_ _Kal" she breathed against his lips as he pulled her tight against him. He could feel every curve of her slender body as she shifted against him. She was only wearing her long grey yoga pants and her sports bra, leaving her midriff exposed as it pressed against his own._

_He smirked roguishly as he skimmed his tongue over her lower lip._

_She didn't respond, save to part her lips a little to let his tongue into her mouth. She groaned softly, her hands wrapping around his neck and back. Grunting as her nails gripped his scalp, he carefully rolled them over so that her back now pressed into the couch seat, while he lay over her._

_He pouted as she suddenly wrenched herself away, only to find that she was panting heavily, her face flushed and very warm._

_"_ _Sorry." She puffed, her lips grazing his "Needed to breathe."_

_"_ _Forgive me. I forget myself sometimes," he smirked not so apologetically, a little shiver running down his spine as she reached up to caress his gills._

_"_ _Stop" He caught her hand quickly before it could trail down the sensitive skin, only to groan as she leaned up daringly and pressed her lips where she had touched._

_"_ _Minx" he hissed, his face dropping to her ear as she gave his gills a flick with her tongue._

_The muscles in his lower abdomen tightened as he gripped her body tight in his hands. The friction between their bodies was almost unbearable as she continued to lick and kiss his gills._

_He nipped at her earlobe, suckling on it greedily as he pressed his hips against hers._

_"_ _Kaldur" she sighed abandoning his gills as his lips trailed down her neck while his hand slid up the inside of her thigh-_

"KALDUR!"

Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis blinked.

He was lying on his back on the cave common room couch, by himself while a large shadow loomed over him.

"Conner?"

 _"_ You okay? You sounded like you were in pain" the super clone frowned in concern as he pulled his hand away from the shoulder he'd been shaking. The Atlantean's heartbeat was racing, and his whole body was warmer than usual, especially around the lower half of his body.

"No, I'm alright. F-forgive me…it was just a dream." Kaldur spluttered, cheeks reddening as he shook his head out.

_Just a dream, and nothing more_

But it had felt so real. He could still feel the tingle against his gills from where they'd been licked and smell her hot sweet breath fanning his face.

He was glad he had a blanket over the lower half of his body because he didn't think he could live with the mortification of Conner seeing him like that-

No! No, he couldn't think about it, it would just make everything worse.

"Is there something I can help you with Conner?" he asked as kindly as he could muster without grousing about his current predicament.

"Yeah, Robin's waiting for you in the main hall" Conner folded his arms, rolling his eyes. "Says he needs to talk with you urgently."

"I'll be right along. Thank you, Conner," Kaldur nodded, carefully standing up and thanking his lucky sea stars he was wearing a loose pair of pants.

_What the hell is his problem? And why is he all red?_

Conner frowned as he watched his team leader quietly slink out of the common room.

It wasn't like him to skulk around so sneakily with such embarrassment.

_Whatever, if its nothing too bad I'm sure he'll be fine_

The clone rolled his eyes as he turned the television onto white noise. He could worry about his leader later, right now he just wanted to sit back and relax.

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, December 6 2010, 08:08 EDT** _

Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth both smirked with amusement as Dick trudged in on his own into the brightly lit kitchen.

"Good morning to you, young master" the old butler smiled as he placed a hot bowl of milk and a box of cereal on the counter.

"Mo-Morning Alfie, Mornin' Bruce" Dick yawned.

"Good Morning to you too" Bruce smiled as he took out two sections of the newspaper he was reading. He handed Dick the comic strips and set down the puzzles in Christine's empty spot that lay in between theirs.

"You two didn't spend the night at the cave?"

"Nah, Chris was too pooped to go." Dick's face turned into a miserable pout.

"And when has that ever stopped you?" Bruce raised an eyebrow as Dick piled his bowl with cereal.

"It hasn't, but this time she's fussy and crabby. Can't even ask her anything and she snaps!" the poor boy huffed in aggravation. "I swear once this recital is over we can all breathe safely again."

"Alright! Alright! Just calm down" Bruce chuckled patting his shoulder consolingly "You know how nervous she gets when she has to perform in public."

"More nervous than normal?" Dick grumbled mulishly. At this point, Alfred sighed.

"Despite her mature mindset young master Dick, Miss Christine still a developing girl which means that there will be times her hormones will severely affect her mood sometimes."

"Speaking of hormones," Bruce's eyes narrowed as he folded up his newspaper.

Dick turned around to catch Alfred's eyes as the old butler worked on cooking at the stove.

"Uh…Alfie do we have any more Crunchy-"

"Richard John Grayson, don't you dare change the subject" Bruce's eyes narrowed even more.

Dick looked at Alfred pleadingly, but the old man shook his head gravely.

"I'm sorry young master but Master Bruce has a question, and I'd think you'd be wise to listen to it."

Dick gulped as the stern dark blue orbs turned on him and suddenly found himself wishing there were white lenses to cover them up.

"Dick" Bruce began, a little more gently than his previous exclamation but still quite stern "How are Christine and Kaldur going in their relationship?"

"They're going fine…why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing" Bruce muttered quickly turning back to the newspaper. "Just checking…"

"Checking to see if they've done the nasty yet?" Dick smirked and was pleased as the Dark Knight sprayed his newspaper with coffee as he chocked in shock.

"Master Dick!" Alfred's nostrils flared, face red as he handed Bruce a napkin "Please, refrain from such topics while at the breakfast table."

"But he was asking-" Dick guffawed just as thudding came from above their heads.

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

They all turned around to see Christine fully dressed in her ballet training gear, with a giant purple duffel bag under her arm, run down the kitchen stairs and into the room.

"Hey, guys" she puffed.

"And where are you off to?" Bruce watched as she snatched up her piece of newspaper and shoved it into the duffel.

"Final dress rehearsal for the Company before tomorrow's performance" she quickly grabbed her mug of hot chocolate and skulled it down.

"Remind me young miss, which story were you performing again?" Alfred resisted the urge to tut her rather unladylike behaviour, as she drained the mug.

"The Nutcracker" she wheezed after swallowing. The hot chocolate was steaming hot in her mouth. "And I'm Clara" she groaned in exasperation.

"Ah yes, that's right the lead role if I'm not mistaken" Alfred smirked with pride.

"The lead? But you said you were playing one of the children-" Dick tilted his head to the side.

It was common knowledge to most that, the Gotham Academy Ballet class were also a part of the junior section of the Gotham Ballet company. They didn't usually perform in any of the big performances like the Christmas ballet or the summer gala with the adults or late teenagers, generally filling in as extras and sometimes as stagehands for work experience.

"Yeah, Clara and her prince are both kids, but they're also the leads. Why do you think I've been doing so much partner work with Marty?"

"Marty. But I thought you were just two side characters? Wait does that mean he's the-"

"The Nutcracker? Uh yeah duh! I told you it was a big audition-shit! One moment." Christine clapped a hand to her forehead.

Bruce and Alfred both watched with some amusement as she dove into her duffel, rummaging through it before heaving a sigh.

"Oh thank goodness! It's there" she zipped the bag shut, but not before Bruce saw a glimpse of her purple utility belt peeking out from beneath her pink satin pointe shoes.

"Hey" Dick put a gentle hand on her shoulder "you'll do fine. Besides, take it from me, the rehearsals suck, but the performance usually goes well."

"This time I'm not so sure" Christine flumped down into her chair as Alfred set in front of her a plate filled with a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast with butter and jam, sausages and homemade hash browns "half the time I'm terrified of screwing up a step, especially in that Pas de Deux. And Mart and I are still having trouble with entering the fish dive lift so we'll have to practice that section of the dance for another hour or two."

"So we won't be seeing you till the performance then?" Bruce raised his eyebrows as she began shovelling food into her mouth at a speed that would put Wally West and Barry Allen both to shame.

"Yeah, pretty much." Christine swallowed down the last morsel before accidentally letting loose a tiny belch.

"Whoops! Excuse me" she blushed sheepishly as Alfred's eyes widened in shock, as he took the plate from her.

Dick cackled loudly before leaning over to kiss her on the side of the head. "Don't worry; you'll do fine."

"I hope so" She grumbled as a beeping sound came from the pocket of her cardigan. She pulled out her phone and looked at it.

"Well, Marty's here so I guess I should get going. See you two tonight." she fist-bumped her partner before swooping in to kiss Bruce on the cheek.

"Alfred make sure these two behave themselves and don't fall asleep in their seats." She waggled her finger at the old butler who chuckled as she gave him a brief hug.

"I will do my best young miss. Break a leg."

"Will do. See ya!" Christine called as she dashed out of the kitchen door.

* * *

_**Gotham City Opera House, December 6 2010, 20:10 EDT** _

_Tap-tap! Tap-tap! Tap-tap!_

"Will you cut that out, Martin?!" Christine snapped as she tried to carefully brush a smidgeon of blush onto her pale made up cheeks.

"Alright! Alright! Yeash! Don't have to snap my head off!" Martin pouted as he clenched his hand to stop himself from drumming his fingers on his dressing table. He wore a red and blue tin soldier outfit, with a fake head of an ugly Nutcracker held under his arm.

"Damn I hate this" he groaned as he looked at his now plain brown hair. The director had been adamant that he remove all hair dye from it, much to the boy's chagrin.

"What are you complaining about?! At least you don't look like you stepped out of Downtown Abbey" Christine sighed staring at her reflection in the mirror and bristled uncomfortably.

Oh god, she looked like Wendy Darling from the Disney version of Peter Pan. What with the black and purple glamour charm around her neck and her dark hair tied and styled in a high ponytail with tight ringlets, rosy cheeks and lips. It didn't help her self-confidence to know that she was wearing an old-fashioned pale lavender lace dress like one of those creepy antique dolls with the large staring eyes. She much preferred her other outfit, the plain white Victorian nightdress that was thankfully hanging somewhere just off stage on a hook on the wall waiting for her to put it on at the end of the first few scenes.

The only real consolation she could see was that at least she was just expected to dance and not sing. That would have been an absolute act of social suicide. Christine could not sing to save her life, her voice almost always coming out just like (in Roy Harper's most delicate way of putting it) a cat screeching in agony.

There were several thundering of feet outside the door to the dressing room, and the door creaked open.

"Chris, Marty. You've got fifteen minutes before the curtain rises" Martin and Christine looked up as a young woman in a white dressing robe poked her head through the door. Her face was sweet as she smiled kindly, her blonde hair glistening as the shiny pins that held it up in a high bun sparkled in the dim light. "Oh my goodness, you both look wonderful!"

"Thanks, Sam" Christine and Martin both couldn't help but smile.

Samantha Vanaver was a senior at Gotham Academy and the pride and joy of the Gotham Ballet Company. She was kind, beautiful and the epitome of a perfect lady. It was no surprise to Christine as to how she'd managed to get the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

"You both excited for your big debut?" Samantha asked excitedly.

"Err…" Christine looked down at her shoes. "Would I sound stupid if I said we were scared…uh?"

"Shitless?" Martin finished for her.

Samantha's smile softened. "Oh, you'll be fine. Just do what I do. Pretend you're at dress rehearsal with no one in the audience" there was a loud call from above.

"Oh! Madam Fletcher is calling. See you guys later. Break a leg" Samantha dashed out the door.

_Imagine an empty audience. Easier said than done._

"Hey what's up with you now?" Martin chuckled as Christine checked her phone which had just buzzed. She flicked it open and saw the message from a blocked number.

_"_ _Your mother wants to meet you for a chat. Meet me at the Gotham private airport at 16:45 EDT, exit C. 31_ _st_ _December, or else risk a repeat of Thanksgiving. Hope you break a leg tonight at your performance - Ishan."_

Had this been sent to her four years ago she might have smiled but now that she knew what he'd become, her eyes hardened with disgust as she texted him back.

**"** _I'll put it in my calendar. Now get lost. I don't want to speak to you ever again._ **"**

She waited for a moment hoping that nothing would come back in response. However, she was sorely disappointed.

**"** _I'm only trying to help you. Stop being so difficult. Though your stubbornness is still kinda cute."_

"Who's that from?" Martin frowned as he hovered over her shoulder before a look of surprise flashed over his face. "Oh…is that…Your ex?"

Christine growled in frustration and shut her phone with a snap.

"Like hell he is! Let's get out of here and to that bloody stage!" she shoved the device into her small handbag on the dresser, before putting it back into her duffel. She'd think about it later, for now, she had a Ballet to perform.

* * *

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson both stepped out of the limousine and onto the red-carpeted path leading up to the entrance of the grand building.

For once the two of them were genuinely smiling as they waved at the cameramen and press that were pushing and shoving against each other behind the red velvet rope. This wasn't like any other night where they had to put on their masks because this would be the one where even they would probably enjoy themselves.

"Hey, Bruce! Dick!"

Bruce and Dick both turned to see another small group of people walking towards them. At the Front was Oliver Queen with Dinah at his arm, with all the rest of the original justice leaguers who were all mingling with the rest of the crowd. Bruce could see Clark amidst the sea of reporters, doing his best to sneak into the large building to meet them unnoticed.

"Dude!" there was a call as a redhead with sunglasses charged through to grab Dick around the shoulders.

"Hey Dude" The camera's flashed brighter than ever as Dick grinned, slinging his arm around his best friend's shoulders just as a pair of people came up the stairs to them.

"Roy, Kal you came!"

"Of course" Roy scoffed softly. "Just because I don't usually go to Ballets doesn't mean I can't appreciate good theatre."

"That and because Christine begged you to come with her magic puppy dog eyes" Wally and Dick both smirked.

"I will admit" Kaldur steamrolled over all of them to avoid an argument because the press were all going into a frenzy over their little group as they followed the adults "I have never seen a full Ballet live before, let alone heard about this… Nutcracker. Tell me what is the story?"

"It's about some girl who gets a Nutcracker for a present at Christmas. Then she saves him from being beaten up by a rat and goes on some adventure with him to the land of Sweets or something." Wally shrugged.

"We'll get a booklet when we get inside" Dick nodded just as they followed the group of adults into the entrance. They let the security personell search them briefly before being given the all clear to join the rest of the Justice Leaguers who were led by Bruce just as a young curly blonde-haired girl ran out a side passage towards them in a dark blue evening dress.

"Hey, Freddy!" Dick grinned.

"Oh Hey, you're all here! Good! Phew." she puffed putting both hands on her knees before looking up at all of them.

"Hello, Mister Wayne" she grinned up at him. All the other leaguers eyebrows rose at this statement, but the millionaire just smiled patiently.

"Hello, Freddy. How are you? Doing better I hope."

"Me? Yeah totally A-OK!" Freddy straightened up and beamed as she reached out to hug Dick "And once again thank you guys for saving my ass at Thanksgiving. I don't know what I would've done if you guys hadn't rescued me."

"Glad we could help Freds" Wally grinned as she briefly hugged him too before turning to Roy who frowned warily at her. The girl was loud and energetic as a massive freight train smashing through walls.

"It's Roy right?" She smirked "Chris told me about you. Nice to finally meet the grumpy ginger arrow face to face."

"Grumpy Ginger Arrow?" Roy shook her hand, blinking in shock.

Was this the same helpless hostage they'd just rescued a few days ago? She was so bubbly and energetic it put a sugar high Wally West to shame.

"Yeah, her words not mine." Freddy grinned, a spark of mischief twinkling in her eyes as she looked Kaldur up and down appreciatively. "So boys correct me if I'm wrong but is this tall drink of water my besties new boyfriend?"

"Yep," Dick grinned as she hissed victoriously.

"Yes! I knew it! Damn, Chris told me you were good looking but I didn't think you'd be this hot!"

"Th-thank you?" Kaldur gulped, his cheeks burning a bright red with embarrassment as he reached out to shake the girl's hand "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, miss uh?"

"Fredericka Lantern or you can just call me Freddy for short I don't care." She grinned as she detached herself from him and faced the rest of the adults who were watching the scene with amusement "Anyways, what was I supposed to do? Oh yeah, that's right. Ahem!"

She coughed and straightened up, trying and failing to hide her excitement behind a ladylike mask.

"So I'm Christine's best friend, and I will be taking care of you all this evening. So, if you would please follow me up this way to your seats."

"Don't worry." Wally grinned as Kaldur and Roy stared shell-shocked "You get used to it."

"Wow," Roy blinked as the girl suddenly darted off to lead the group up a set of stairs. "She was so…"

"Energetic" Kaldur finished.

_What a force of nature. No wonder Christine has the patience of a saint._

He shook his head to clear it as the memory of his dream wafted over his mind's eye.

_NO! No, don't think about that now._

They all proceeded to follow her up to one of the higher larger centre boxes which offered a fantastic view of the entire stage and orchestra without much difficulty even from the back seats.

"So how is our leading lady?" Dick muttered in an undertone as the four protégé's made their way towards the front most seats. With three of them being shorter than most of the adult's no one complained. Dick leaned to whisper into Freddy's ear as she settled herself in the middle of the four boys, Dick and Wally on her left with Kaldur and Roy on her right.

"She's looking as gorgeous as ever if I may say so myself" Freddy smirked knowingly at Kaldur as he leaned in to ask:

"Is she nervous?"

"Obviously yes" Freddy rolled her eyes.

"Why did something go wrong?"

"Stage fright" Freddy shrugged nonchalantly.

"Stage fright?" Wally's eyes widened in surprise. "Christine gets stage fright?"

"Yeah. And badly too." Freddy nodded solemnly "Poor thing. She almost froze for a whole five minutes during the dress rehearsal yesterday when she had to make her entrance. I told the stupid director she has issues with it, but he was so excited about the prospect of a full house that he had to blast his mouth off to everyone before they started the scene."

"That is quite unfortunate. From what we've seen her do, it's clear she's very talented." Kaldur winced with sympathy, remembering how she had fumbled delivering her speech at the Hall of Justice. He hoped she'd be alright.

"Tell me about it." Freddy sighed "I just hope she can make it into her first scene without a hitch."

"Is it just the first scene, or every time she enters?" Dick asked.

"No! It's just that first appearance because as you know being the lead she must make good first impressions."

"True" Dick nodded remembering his performance days in the circus and how nervous his parents used to get before entering their big number "Very true. So how did you get her to calm down?"

"Martin and I took her out for lunch. Got her to laugh, eat and take her mind off things for an hour or so. The power of food is quite amazing."

"Indeed, it is" Wally smiled knowingly earning a lot of rolling eyes, all save Kaldur, whose eyes narrowed.

"Who's this  _Martin_?"

"Christine's dance partner" Dick smirked, flipping through the performance's pamphlet till he reached a photo spread and handed it across Freddy to Kaldur.

In it Christine was in her ballet gear, performing an assisted arabesque with another young teenage boy about her age.

Kaldur looked down at the page, a scowl escaping him despite his attempt to keep his face blank as he caught sight of the boy's hands on his girlfriend's waist.

Beneath the photo was the caption.  _Above – Clara (Christine Hallows) and the Nutcracker (Martin Hamish), performing a pas de deux._

"Looks like someone's getting jealous _"_ Roy nudged the Atlantean's side.

"I am not jealous" he muttered stiffly, horribly aware that his King and the rest of the Justice League were now comfortably seated behind them and listening in on the conversation with amusement.

"Sorry, Roy didn't quite catch that. So, who's jealous?" Oliver Queen grinned as he leaned over the boy's shoulders, only to snort with laughter as he caught sight of the picture.

"Oliver, let the poor boy be" Aquaman shook his head in amusement at his protege.

"Oh come on, as if you don't find this funny too-"

"If you are quite finished Oliver" came a small mutter as Bruce glared at the Green Archer "they're dimming the lights right now."

"Oh right…sorry" Oliver smiled sheepishly as the orchestra in the orchestral pit began to tune up their instruments. Beside him, Dinah rolled her eyes with Diana and Shayera. Men could be so immature at times.

Bruce leaned back in his chair and thought hard about what he'd just heard. He never knew Christine got terrible stage fright. He knew she hated public speaking, but then again not many people liked it at all. But stage fright? For ballet?

Dancing was one of her better talents, in fact, it came as a very close second to her linguistic skills with martial arts coming at an even closer third. She wasn't afraid to make a dramatic entrance when she was Swift so that she couldn't have doubted her theatrical abilities. What could have made her so scared of stepping onto a stage for her dancing?

He had a sneaking suspicion that this strange fear had been another influence from that damned woman, Scarlett. Yes. He wouldn't put it past that sneaky bitch to undermine her daughter's talents at every chance she got. Something about his anger must have shown on his face because he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Bruce. It's starting now" He turned and saw Diana smiling kindly at him. Bruce nodded and turned back to the stage just as the big red curtain began to open and the overture began to play.

A small little stall had been set up where what seemed to be an old man (Mr Drosselmeyer) had popped up behind. They all watched with amusement as he made an elaborate demonstration of packing away a colourful nutcracker in a brightly wrapped box as a present before walking out of the door of his shop, which smoothly moved off stage as the backdrop changed. Now Drosselmeyer was in a dark cobblestone street and walking up towards a small set of stairs that led off stage.

He greeted a couple of extras who were dressed up as an assortment of, nun's, a couple of mothers with their children and even a little match girl before exiting the stage.

The scene changed. The audience had now been taken to the inside of a large house where an enormous Christmas tree, adorned with lights and colourful baubles stood amongst a sea of overly large presents, all of which were positioned between the arms of a grand dual staircase. Around it, many adult dancers flitted around in Victorian dresses and suits as they placed specific ornaments around the room.

This went on for a while until one man in a brown suit strode up to a woman in a white dress who was presumably his wife, as they both were holding hands, and gestured towards the staircases. They saw him mime a call. At once little marching music began and from the left arm of the stairs a group of boys, ranging between the ages of nine to fifteen years old began to march down the stairs like a little troupe, chests all puffed out like little roosters.

Once they were down the stairs, then the wife mimed a call to the right side where a group of girls, who seemed around the same age as the boys, gently trotted down the stairs looking remarkably sweet in their soft dresses and Ballet slippers.

Bruce noticed with slight worry that Christine wasn't amongst them. So, it seemed did the ballerina on stage who mimed another call. There was a small pregnant pause that made everyone wait with bated breath.

There was a tiny rustle from somewhere off stage as a slender, pale hand crept out onto the railing. Bruce could see the other dancers on stage exchange a collective sigh of relief as shyly, softly, Christine stepped out onto the top of the staircase.

She was wearing a pale lavender silk dress with short sleeves and a soft tulle skirt, under which she wore her sheer pale tights and white satin pointe shoes. Her hair was curled in ringlets and pulled back into a high ponytail, tied with a dark plum satin ribbon. Around her neck, the boys were relieved to see the glamour charm was in place.

There was a heart-stopping pause, in which Christine stared out at the audience and gulped.

"Come on Chris, take baby steps. You can do this" Freddy mumbled under her breath as he anxiously chewed her fingernail.

Down below in the orchestra pit, the conductor was staring at her, arms paused mid-air as he waited with bated breath along with the audience.

Then suddenly, a satin pointe shoe took its first step down the stage.

Despite his mood, Kaldur couldn't help the smile that crept over his face at the sight of her she descended the staircase with small, graceful steps, her feet as silent as a cat's. Her face was nervous but determined as she forced a broad girlish smile onto her face.

The man who had issued the first call ran forwards as she reached the last three and caught her smoothly into a lift. He held her gently above him as he twirled her round in the air before settling her down to the ground. Then she deftly ran into the arms of the man's wife with whom she spun around with gently before the woman invited her to join with the other children.

All the protégé's and Freddy heaved a soft sigh of relief as they watched her friend sit comfortably at the side with the girls, settling one of the smallest children on her lap and exchanging a little giggle with them before turning to watch as the "parents" entered a dance of their own that resembled a kind of polka. Soon the dance ended, with a small smattering of applause from the audience before the children stood up for their turn. Everyone watched with smiles on their faces as Christine, and the boys and girls formed two lines opposite one another before performing a lively little number that involved lots of skipping and spinning in circles.

Dick had to blink several times as he watched his partner spin round and round with a younger boy with short blonde hair, smiling with excitement and joy as they linked arms and switched partners.

How was she not dizzy?

A few moments later the dance finally ended as the children all came back to the centre and bowed to their partners.

Another small applause issued, many of the adults in the audience smiling delightedly as the charming children gave them a bow/curtsy.

Then there was a loud knocking of the door, and Drosselmeyer reappeared from stage right with several assistants who were pushing several oversized boxes of presents that were taller than some of the smaller children.

_Must be dancers inside them_

Bruce smirked amusedly as Drosselmeyer mimed a grand show and presented the first gift, out of which a man jumped out in a colourful jesters outfit.

The Dark Knight couldn't help but cringe at the sight of the character, which while he danced well with many a jump and leap; it still disturbed the hell out of him. He'd apparently spent too much time chasing and fighting the Joker in these past few years.

He was glad when the man stopped dancing, and a woman dressed as a wind-up doll in a pink tutu took centre stage with a stiff routine en pointe.

"Damn she's good" Barry Allen grinned in the back row as the woman lifted her leg in a perfect vertical split smoothly and effortlessly as she hopped around on her toes.

Then from the third box, the last dancer popped out a large cuddly brown teddy bear, whose movements were slightly clunky in his furry suit. Still, he somehow managed to dance with surprising grace around the stage, making the audience and the children on stage laugh.

Then Drosselmeyer took out the regular sized box they'd seen him packing at the start and opened it up to show the Nutcracker toy. The audience watched as the Nutcracker was handed over to Christine who accepted it with a joyful smile.

She proceeded to show it off to the other children and adults, with many an excited twirl on her toes, her ringlets gently flying behind her with her smooth movements. Then she was called by the woman she'd hugged before, who was probably playing her mother and was asked to put down the nutcracker to dance with the adults in a waltz.

"Wait I think I've seen this before" Wally frowned quietly.

"Chris practised this at the cave a lot" Dick whispered only to be shushed by Freddy.

During the waltz, which was slow, some of the little boys from before crept up to the place where the Nutcracker was standing and tried grabbing at it.

"Little brats are gonna break him, aren't they?" Roy muttered to Kaldur who chuckled with amusement as the toy fell to the ground an arm broken.

Wally and Dick both snickered but caught themselves quickly as the dance stopped, and Christine rushed over to the Nutcracker doll just as the man who played her father pretended to scold the boy, who was probably the son, (the protégé's were only guessing at this point but they assumed they were right.).

Drosselmeyer came forth again and fixed the Nutcracker as best he could, putting the doll's arm in a sling before handing him back to Christine who proceeded to cradle it like a baby as she and the other girls cooed over it.

A few moments later after the mother and father both made the signal for the children to go to bed, which was obeyed with many a silent protest from Christine, who eventually conceded to let her Nutcracker doll remain on a cabinet on the side of the stage. Once all the children had made their way up the adults followed and the stage darkened.

The audience clapped loudly as the scene finally ended.

"Okay, I gotta admit. This is not too bad." they heard Hal Jordan admit grudgingly to Barry in the back row as they all clapped.

They were pulling back the cabinets and the presents and replacing them with giant replicas of them, even the sideboard at the side of the stage was huge and now holding several dancers dressed up like tin soldiers. They could also see the human-sized black booted feet that hung over the edge of the cabinet, in the spot the Nutcracker had been laid to rest.

There was a pause of silence during which smoke began to billow into the set from offstage. Then the music started again, low and threatening.

A shadow moved amongst the smoke, dark and with a long tail. Freddy shuddered in her seat.

"Ah yes that's right" Dick smirked.

"What?" Wally whispered.

"It's the battle with the  **rats** " the boy wonder smirked wiggling his fingers at Freddy who slapped his hands away.

"Stop it!"

"You hate rats?" Kaldur asked, and she shivered.

"I just don't like the way they scurry around."

She glared at Dick sidelong before glowering back at the stage just as a dancer in a ragged soldier's uniform, with a fake rat tail and large rodent mask over his head snuck into view with several other fellow dancers. There was a small pause before they all scurried away to hide behind some of the larger presents as someone descended the stairs again.

It was Christine, and this time she was in a white traditional short sleeved night dress that only reached just above her knees.

They watched as she crept cautiously around the presents making her way towards the cabinet where the now human Nutcracker was lying. But, before she could pass the centre stage the rats from before pounced out of hiding.

Dick had to hide his derisive snort behind his hand as Christine made a very shocked face with her hands delicately over her mouth.

Had this been any other usual time, she would've been able to floor those other dancers within seconds. It was just too weird for the boy wonder to comprehend her feeling scared at being ambushed by some goons. The other boys seemed to share this point of view because they all smirked.

"Oh man if only they knew" Wally hissed as Christine sprinted around the stage as the rat dancers chased her around.

One eventually caught her and lifted her high above him before bringing her down and gently shoving her towards his fellows who each, in turn, proceeded to pick her up in increasingly extravagant lifts until finally, their king arrived. He was perhaps the most recognisable of them all as he was wearing a great shaggy mantel over his costume and had a crown on top of the mask in between the rodent ears. He greeted his vermin subjects grandly before Christine was presented to him roughly, despite her feeble damsel in distress protests.

But just as the rat king was about to swoop down on her, the Nutcracker on the giant cabinet suddenly sprang to life. He sprung down to Christine as the Rat King cursed his luck and ordered his troops to attack. But not before the tin soldiers from the cupboard sprang down to help.

"Not bad" Roy nodded in approval as a fight scene ensued between the toys and rodents with many a bang and smoke bombs from the pyro-technicians. The music was reaching a crescendo as the Nutcracker, and Rat King fought the former slowly but surely getting beaten down. Finally, he was struck down to the ground injured. The Rat King raised his sword…

Then the musicians struck hard, the lights went red, and the Rat King flailed away his tail caught in a giant mousetrap maneuverer by Christine and the tin soldiers. As he fell forwards the injured Nutcracker held up his sword, and it went through him, or at least he stuck it under his armpit. The rats all fled the scene as their king fell to the floor dead as a doornail.

Christine then ran over to her saviour who lay on the floor seemingly dying until she held his hand in her own and kissed it.

At this point, everyone in the box smirked down at Kaldur who bristled uncomfortably as he slumped a little in his seat. No matter how hard he tried, the Atlantean boy could not push down the bubbling heat in his gut as he watched his girlfriend caress the boy on the ground with loving strokes and kisses.

He was glad the change in music quickly distracted them all as the Nutcracker seemed to revive, the other toys around him spring to their feet and begin to circle round both Christine and the Nutcracker until-

The Nutcracker is hoisted high up in the air by the other tin soldiers; his oversized costume head off revealing Martin's slightly flushed face. The audience gasped, but Freddy and Dick were clapping their hands over their mouths to stifle their giggles.

Kaldur was surprised to see Christine's face also cracking a little as she did her best to restrain her giggles. The grand reveal must've looked quite funny for her on the stage as well.

She was quick to swallow her grin as Martin was let down to the ground and took her by the hands. With a graceful yet strong spin, he was ready to take her in his arms for a dance around the toy dancers who were all miming celebration around them.

Christine and Martin moved seamlessly together, more like one entity than just two dancers. It was easy to tell that there was plenty of trust between the two of them as Christine was quite content to leap at him so that he could catch her in lift or jump. Not that he would feel much different holding her since she was so light on her feet.

The audience clapped loudly with many a whistle and cheer as Martin and Christine ended their dance with an incredible one-handed supported lift, with the other dancers around them ending in their manner.

They all bowed off and exited the stage, as the scene changed to a wintery pine forest with fake snow falling gently from the top of the stage.

"Damn! I knew she was good at dancing but,  _Damn_!" Wally clapped looking impressed.

"I know. Isn't it great?" Freddy beamed.

"She's wonderful" Kaldur smiled wide, wincing as Roy threw in one last wolf-whistle right next to his ear.

"Yeah. She sure is" Dick grinned as he watched the scene change to that of a snowy forest which Christine and Martin both danced diagonally across from the stage left to the back-stage right, before a group of dancers came in from the back of stage left all female in white tutus based on a snowflake motif. The women danced around the stage for a while until finally, another pair of people danced in, a man who led a woman who was shuffling on the stage entirely on pointe.

They danced for twenty minutes or so, going through the famous waltz of the snowflakes before finishing the act with the man holding the woman in front of him as she did a perfect arabesque.

There was another loud applause as the pair bowed off to the audience and then to each other before stepping to the side to allow the different snowflakes to bow. Then the red curtain closed and the audience began to titter in their seats as a voice announced over the speakers.

" _Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is the end of Act 1. We shall be having an intermission of about twenty minutes so feel free to stretch your legs and mingle before you return to your seats._ **"**

"Well she made it through" Wally muttered to the other protégé's who all nodded in agreement. While at the behind them Bruce was being congratulated by the other leaguers.

"Bruce you should've told us Christine could dance so well" Diana hissed. "I would've been delighted to show her some of the dancing back from Themyscira."

"I agree" Dinah nodded "this talent could prove very useful for her fighting skills."

"How so?" Oliver exchanged amused glances with Barry and Clark.

"Well, there are plenty of martial arts that are very reminiscent of dancing" Dinah shrugged. "And the more she learns the more she can create her own style that suits her"

"A dancing superhero…" Hal smirked "That would be interesting"

"Oh really? Well, then I'd like to see you try to top that performance" Freddy turned round in her seat and smirked at the red face of the said superhero as everyone else all snickered.

Bruce shook his head with amusement as an image of the rest of the Justice Leaguers trying to dance Ballet came into his mind. Oh, that would be priceless.

Meanwhile, backstage Christine and Martin both hugged excitedly with the other tin soldiers and toy dancers.

"Oh my god!" she squealed jumping up and down. "We did it! We did it! I can't believe we did it!"

"I know" Martin was grinning widely as she leapt into his arms "We got through!"

"Whoa! Hold your horses there you two. That was just the first half" One of the tin soldiers, a guy in his early twenties chuckled with his fellows.

"Yeah, Pete's right, there's still plenty more to go with the second half."

Christine and Martin's both grinned at each other.

"I think we'll manage"

The older dancers laughed with amusement before patting them both on the back jovially.

* * *

All that happened after that moment was pretty much an excitable blur when all the dancers each took to the stage in turn to present a colourful display of the variety of sweets in the magical world they were charged with creating.

Everything was moving so fast to Christine that it seemed like merely five seconds later she found herself dashing between stagehands and dancers to get to her spot for the final dance.

_Oh god! It's here. Please don't screw up! Please don't screw up!_

She reached her spot and sighed as she saw Samantha and her partner just about finishing their routine.

She caught Martin's eye as he came into position on the other side of the stage. He gave her a steady nod.

Samantha and her partner bowed with much applause and exited the stage on Martin's side just as he ran in and, quite literally, leapt into action. Despite his lean gangly body, he gained quite a lot of air as he propelled himself into a series of jete's and jumps. There were many oo's and ahh's from the audience and Christine felt herself smile as he finished his solo with a powerful pose.

_My turn_

She gulped as she squared her shoulders.

She stepped onto the stage, lightly springing across it with airy lamb-like sissonne steps. All the steps she'd painstakingly practised for months came flooding back effortlessly to her as she twirled, jumped and flew across the stage in a hauntingly graceful whirl. She shut her eyes for a blissful moment, letting the music take her soul and losing her heart in each step as she soared across the stage in a Grand jeté. She could barely remember the last time she'd danced like this.

Back in the box, Bruce was staring at his daughter.

For as long as he could remember, Christine always had a sylph-like physique. Even when she was on duty as Swift, she couldn't hide her natural grace, something that even the many of the villains of Gotham had noticed and even mocked. The rough and tough Batman, mentor to a lithe and poised little bird. Such a concept had undoubtedly made many headlines.

As she came closer to their side of the stage, he caught sight of her expression. It was soft, happy, free of strain, free of care and worry as she shut her eyes and smiled, her euphoria making her seem to glow brightly from within.

He looked down at the rest of the audience who could barely take their eyes off her as she bounded high into the air in another leap before landing soundlessly and beginning a series of sharp and fast fouettes.

"Jesus Christ how the hell is she even doing that?" even Barry the speedster was having a hard time keeping up with his eyes as Christine kept going round and round and round and round and-

The protégé's jaws in front were dropping lower than their knees.

Back on-stage Martin heard his musical cue but was not sure what to do. He was too busy staring at his partner in awe. She was nailing it tonight!

_Well I can't let her have all the fun_

A grin spread over his face as he rushed into the staged as she finished her series of fouettes with a dramatic pose, her arms delicately raised above her head which stretched back over her wonderfully extended legs.

There was loud applause from the audience as Martin quickly came by her side and took her waist in his arms. Christine looked slightly surprised but accepted his intervention gracefully as they re-entered their duet. They moved seamlessly together, Martin's firm, masculine presence complimenting Christine's delicate touch as he led her around the stage.

They were almost at the end. Christine could feel the music from rising from the orchestra pit beneath; her heart was racing in her chest and so was Martin's. She could feel it through his costumed chest that was pressed against her back as she extended in a quick arabesque assisted by him.

"Ready for the big one?" He muttered.

"Born that way," she smirked

_Oh, I have been hanging around Roy way too much._

She thought, almost laughing at herself, as she was lifted into the air still in her arabesque. She shut her eyes as Martin took one of her arms and wrapped it around her waist just below the ribcage while his other arm went around her the thigh of her working leg just above the knee.

The music began to roll along getting faster and faster, building up as he tilted her downwards, bending one of his knees as she arched her standing leg into a parallel passe. Christine took a deep breath and tensed her core tightly as she brought her upper body slightly upright to achieve that perfect curve.

The conductor held his orchestra on the last note Martin, and Christine removed their hands from each other to keep them elegantly to the side before he made the ending gesture of the fish dive.

The audience exploded into a cacophony of cheers and whistles as the dancing pair straightened back up into a standing position to bow to them. Christine could faintly hear cries of.

"Bravo! Bravo!"

She looked up toward one of the higher boxes, and her face paled as she caught sight of Freddy and the boys standing up high, right in front of Bruce and the civilian disguised justice leaguers.

_Oh no! He brought all the original seven too?!_

**"L** Oh look, she's finally seen us" Dick cackled as he and Wally both waved grinning.

"WHOO! GO CHRIS!"

_Oh my god. He invited **everyone**?!_

Christine felt her cheeks burn red hot as she caught sight of Kaldur and Roy clapping loudly, but she had no time to exchange long-distance communications as the rest of the cast came on for the last group dance. She and Martin were made to shuffle back towards backstage where she had to crouch out of sight on the floor as the dancers proceeded to end their part with a fantastic group finish. As soon as they'd bowed the lights dimmed to blue and the set began to move and be replaced by the Christmas tree and the hall. Christine dashed back into the centre stage close to the tree's base with the presents and flung herself to the floor

"Here" Martin shoved the toy Nutcracker into her hands and dashed off stage hidden by the remaining dancers as they all departed off the stage. Christine quickly shut her eyes and laid her head on the ground as the last of them dashed out of her way to leave her alone on stage, pretending to be asleep.

There was a pause, and then the ending music began to play, softly. She opened her eyes and sat up squinting.

_Oh great! Thanks a lot, lighting guys!_

The spotlight above her was right in her eyes. She looked down at her Nutcracker doll in her arms just so that she was spared the pain of watching into the light just as she heard a pitter patter of feet from the staircase. The woman who played her mother quickly made her way downstairs. Christine placed the doll in her arms on the floor as she quickly ran up to the woman who took her by the hands, smiling warmly with pride before allowing herself to be led off stage, leaving the doll in the spotlight as the curtain closed.

She smiled as the lights went off behind the curtain her eyes still on the toy on the ground. There was a tap at her shoulder, and she looked up to see Martin grinning.

"Now we can celebrate!"

* * *

_**Gotham City Opera House, December 6 2010, 23:34 EDT** _

"Whew! What a night!"Christine sighed as she pulled her silk dressing gown over her underwear and sat down amidst the sea of flowers in her dressing room.

She was so tired that she could drop down and sleep at her dressing table even as she wiped off the stage make-up from her face.

She couldn't help but grin as she caught sight of her face in the mirror. She'd done it. She couldn't believe it. She'd done her first proper performance, and it was great! True she and Marty might have messed up a little on their queues once or twice, but it wasn't like the audience would notice the difference.

She felt giddy, and a giggle escaped her just as there came a knock on the door.

"Come in" she called still focusing on removing her eye make-up.

The door creaked open, and a deep voice grinned.

"Hello Christine"

Christine froze, her heart hammering as she stared into the mirror of her dressing room. There, dressed in a chauffeur's suit and hat, and sporting a scruffy brown beard was Stuart Hallows Junior.

"Papa!" she leapt into her father's arms, nearly bowling him over with her strength.

"Oh, wow! Careful Missy. I'm not as young as I once was." Her father grinned as he returned the hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Sorry" she giggled as he set her down on the floor. "What are you doing here? I thought grandpapa ordered you to stay off the grid."

"And miss seeing my little girls debut?" her father quirked a brow "Your grandfather may have power, but there's no way in hell he'd keep me away from this. God it smells in here."

He looked around, sniffing at all the bouquets in the room.

"I know, it's driving me nuts" Christine rolled her eyes only to laugh at her father who smirked and pulled out a single red rose from the inside of his jacket tied with a black velvet ribbon.

"Guess you won't be needing this then?" he grinned as he prepped to chuck it in the bin, chuckling as his daughter quickly grabbed at it.

"No-no! That one I'll keep. Thank you, papa,!" she kissed him on the cheek before setting the flower carefully on her dressing table, picking up her silver dog-tags and the court of owls medallion.

"Here" her father reached out to help as her fingers fumbled on the small clasps. "You still wear my tags?"

"Every day" Christine's warm smile faltered as she looked up into his face. His brown eyes, so much like hers, were sad as he stared down at the silver chain.

"I've missed so much haven't I?" he murmured

"A bit yeah" Christine nodded quietly, leaning into his touch as he traced the outline of her face.

"Seems only yesterday you were falling over your feet in your first class and now look at you. You're almost a woman."

"And I've got the boobs to prove it. Look." She smirked, pulling down her dressing gown to reveal her breasts tucked into a nude strapless bra.

"Cheeky monkey, put those away" Stuart junior chuckled as she quickly shut the front of her robe together giggling. "You better keep those under wraps when you meet your grandfather. The last thing you need is a wardrobe malfunction at the afterparty."

"Are you kidding, that would be the best time!" Christine cackled "Can you imagine his face if I whipped these out in front of everyone without the bra? It would be priceless!"

"Yes quite" her father shook his head, his expression suddenly turning grim.

"He's still waiting for your answer to his proposal" he muttered, and Christine sighed.

"Well tell him I'm still thinking about it."

"I will, but be careful. Your mother's stunt at Thanksgiving's put him on edge, and he's very antsy right now."

"He's not the only one," Christine muttered.

There was a beep, and Stuart Junior looked down at his watch.

"It's getting late. And I need to get a move on before I'm missed" he mumbled, quickly swooping in to give his daughter one last tight hug. "I'm so proud of you Christine."

"Thank you, Papa. You'll be back, soon right?"

"Very soon. You won't even miss me" he smirked kissing his daughter on the cheek as he pulled away and straightened out his uniform and strode over to the door. "Goodbye sweetheart."

"Goodbye. And next time shave your beard, it scratches." Christine called out after him, her face split into a broad smile as she heard his deep chuckles echo outside in the corridor as he shut the door behind himself.

Once he was out of hearing, she turned back to her dressing table and pressed her lips to her dog tags around her neck.

"I love you papa" she mumbled quietly.

There was another knock at her door.

She sighed heavily.

"God I have a lot of visitors tonight. Who is it?"

"It's me" a deep voice smirked.

Christine wheeled around, her smile returning full force as Kaldur stepped into the room alone holding a small bouquet of white roses. He placed them next to her father's single rose beside her and pulled her into a hug, which she returned only too eagerly.

"Where are the others?" she asked looking at the closed door.

"Still talking outside with the rest of the league. Your friend Freddy was most helpful sneaking me out while they weren't looking," he smirked into her ear, kissing her earlobe.

"Oh, she was, was she?" Christine giggled as he pressed his mouth teasingly against the corner of her lips. He was in an oddly playful mood right now, but Christine wasn't complaining. It had been a while since they'd been alone together, and she was going to enjoy every second of it while it lasted.

"Was it good?"

"What was?" he quirked a brow in amusement as she rolled her eyes nervously.

"The performance! Duh! How was it? Did you like it? Wasn't too boring, was it? I know ballet can sometimes bore people when you don't know what's going on. And then Marty and I missed our queues that one time and-"

She was cut off from her rambling by a deep hungry kiss.

_Whoa, who let this beast out of its pen?_

Christine couldn't help the small whimper that came out of her mouth when his hot tongue began to tangle with hers.

Kaldur had never kissed her like this before. He'd always been so careful and tender when they were together, handling her like one would a piece of glass. Now all she could feel was the heat of his mouth and the crushing grip as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up into his arms.

She squeaked in surprise as he grabbed her knees and wrapped them around his narrow waist, sitting her on top of the dresser so that her face was up higher closer to his.

"You never told me you'd be dancing with another boy" He rumbled as they pulled apart for air.

"Didn't I?" Christine blushed a deep scarlet, panting as she tried to catch her breath. "I thought I did."

"No, you didn't." he crushed her mouth with his again. He gripped her waist tight kneading it in his fingers as he took her bottom lip and suckled on it lightly. Her thighs tightened around his narrow waist, and her hands travelled down from his head to grip at the front of his tuxedo.

"Oh my god. Kal are you jealous?" she giggled breathlessly as she wrenched her mouth from his.

Kaldur narrowed his pale green eyes at her, his high cheekbones tensed as his heated gaze bore into her. She chuckled as she saw the angry pout gracing his lips. She couldn't help it; he reminded her too much of Conner now.

"It's not funny" he grumbled, cheeks burning hotly as she laughed at him. "Stop laughing!"

"Kal," She giggled as he continued to pout moodily at her "Kal, Marty and I have been dancing together for three years-"

"He had his hands all over you -" Kaldur mumbled.

"Yeah, for support." Christine rolled her eyes "Half the paired routines we do need him to support most of my bodyweight. And we've practised those moves, hundreds of times. Trust me; he would  **never**  touch me like that. If anything, I'd be more worried about him pouncing onto  _you_  and feeling  _you_  up."

"What, why?" Kaldur frowned, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh…" he blinked as the realisation hit him like a gong.

"Yep," she rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck and pecking him lightly on the lips.

Kaldur shut his eyes with a heavy sigh as he felt the embarrassed flush creep all the way up his ears. How he wished he could sink into the floor and back into the sea then and there. He had never felt more humiliated in his life.

He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid and rash to lose his composure like that. He had always been able to shrug off his jealousy when he'd watched Christine with the other boys at Mount Justice. But ever since that dream last night, he felt so on edge around her and the thought that another man might touch her like that as well…

"I'm so sorry" he mumbled, not meeting her eye as he opened his "Forgive me, I let my temper get in the way. It's just-you looked so beautiful on that stage-"

"Don't apologise" Christine smiled, cheeks pink as her hands rested on his broad shoulders, "Actually, I think I kinda like jealous Kaldur. He's very sweet."

She leaned up and kissed him again, this time gently pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt.

Kaldur shivered as her fingers unintentionally slid over his gills and it took all his willpower to keep himself in check as he returned her sweet touch passionately.

She smirked against his lips, lips curling as carefully she slid her hands just under the collar to caress the sides of his neck.

"[you sly little minx]" he muttered in Atlantean, shutting his eyes as he leaned in to plant his lips on her jawline and she giggled.

The sound filled his head, bouncing around the cavities of his skull like a siren's song as he pulled her closer to him.

His hands fell to her waist as her hands dug into his neck and chest, her nails digging through the soft white material of his dress shirt as his mouth moved sinuously over her neck. She used his arms and pulled their fronts together so that he could feel her curves through the silk of her dressing gown, which had begun to loosen.

"[Your skin's so smooth]" he whispered in Atlantean marvelling at her as he looked down on her.

A shudder of thrill tingled up her spine as his webbed hands began to trail down her sides towards her thigh that peeked out on one side.

"Okay, now you're just playing dirty-" she sucked in a deep breath as she tilted her head back of her own accord, revealing more of her swan neck, which he proceeded to cover with his mouth.

"Is there any other way to play?" he chuckled huskily right into her ear, and she almost melted then and there like goo onto the dressing table.

God, how she loved the sound of his voice like this!

She felt his fingers grip the flesh of her thigh hard as he nipped at a particularly sensitive spot beneath her jaw. Her grip on his arm tightened in surprise but then slackened with satisfaction as she felt him suck at it slowly, twirling his tongue around the inflamed skin to soothe the spot.

Thump-thump-thump!

Kaldur and Christine both jumped in alarm as a loud voice called through the dressing room door.

"Oy Kal, when you two can come up for air let us know. There are some of us who want to congratulate Christine in the  **normal** way!"

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Christine squeaked in fright as the door handle began to turn. "Ginger Arrow don't you dare open that door or these slippers of mine will crack your head!"

"I'd like to see you try" Roy smirked as he opened the door and peeked through.

His cheeks flushed as red as his hair as he caught sight of his two friends.

The two of them were wound tightly around one another. Christine sat on top of the dresser with her legs wrapped tight around Kaldur's hips, while one of his hands held her waist and the other gripped her thigh. The top half of her dressing gown had dropped just below her shoulders exposing the top of her chest which heaved up and down with heavy pants as they pressed up close against the Atlanteans suit. Her hair was a mess, and Kaldur's tie was askew over the top of his half ripped open white shirt.

But the piece-de-resistance was the small dark bruise blossoming on the girl wonder's neck, and the lipstick smeared all over the Atlantean's mouth.

"Woah…" Roy gulped as Kaldur fixed him with a very dark glower. "I'll-I'll give you guys a moment."

He quickly closed the door with a snap.

"Oh my god. That was so embarrassing." Christine sighed heavily burying her vermillion face into Kaldur's chest.

"It could've been worse" Kaldur mumbled before quickly murmuring in her ear. "We could've both been naked."

Christine frowned up at him, her cheeks pink.

"Did you just make a sex joke?"

"Contrary to what our friends' believe I am not a complete prude." he quirked a brow down at her as he pecked her lips one last time.

They both chuckled softly as they gently made to detangle themselves from one another.

"I suppose I should get changed into my dress." Christine smiled as she slid off the dresser and reached for her duffel bag.

"I'll go outside." Kaldur coughed, doing his best not to stare at her half exposed body.

"It's okay. You don't have to go. I've got a screen, see?" she pulled out a small changing screen and quickly darted behind it, squealing excitedly to herself.

She thought she'd felt giddy before, but now she really was positively buzzing even as she yelled:

"Okay, you can come in now Roy!"

She peeked out from behind her screen as Roy, Wally, Freddy and Dick all filed into the room smiling slyly as Kaldur quickly tried to settle his wrinkled clothes.

"Well, well, well. Somebody looks grumpy" Dick smirked at the older Atlantean, who flushed and scowled with annoyance as Wally gave him a cheeky wink and passed him a makeup wipe from the dresser.

"Dude, you got lipstick on your face."

"Oh, Chris that dance was just incredible." Freddy squealed, ignoring the boys as she rushed behind the screen to hug her best friend tight. "Especially that second act solo."

"You think so? I was so nervous, I thought I was going to hurl" Christine smiled sheepishly as she let her friend help her slip her dress on.

"Really? We didn't notice" Roy grinned "Seriously Chris, you were great out there. You should be proud."

"'cause y'know, we are" Wally's grin softened.

"Thanks, you have no idea what it means to hear that from you guys" Christine wiped at her eyes.

"Oh, there goes the mascara!" Freddy rushed forwards taking one of the wipes from the table top and dabbing at Christine's cheeks were a line of black was streaking down, guided by that one tear.

The boys all snorted with laughter.

"You arses!" Christine scowled before sighing as she stepped out from behind the screen now fully dressed. Freddy was now tittering behind her as she made to force her back into the chair before her dresser to redo her makeup.

"You ok?" Dick smirked as his partner leaned back tiredly.

"I am officially pooped out!" Christine shut her eyes as Freddy started to refresh her mascara.

"You don't have to go to the afterparty you know" Roy rolled his eyes, "Bruce said he was happy for us to hang out at the manor instead."

"I know," Christine rolled her neck around as she undid her hair from its mussed-up ponytail "but I probably should go. All the bigwigs from the company are there and so is my grandfather, and god knows I can't snub them."

"Your grandfather's here in Gotham? Since when?" Wally frowned, and Christine shrugged.

"Since September. I met him on my birthday."

"What's he like? Your grandfather?" Kaldur asked, interestedly. Despite their now close relationship, the girl wonder was always hesitant to talk about her birth family.

"He's okay I suppose. Charming, well read, sharp as a tack…two-faced," she added in a mutter.

"Two-faced?" the others frowned at her.

_Crap did I say that out loud._

She gulped, but quickly covered it up with a smirk.

"I'm kidding."

They all laughed, all of them missing the anxious look in the girl wonder's eyes as she tucked both her dog-tags and the owl medallion down the front of her dress.

Oh, how she wished she was just kidding.

* * *

Stuart Hallows Senior stared out at the large, lavish afterparty.

Many people were laughing and chatting over glasses of wine and champagne, their faces mask of happiness, though their eyes each told a different story.

One group of people caught his attention, or rather the young teenage girl in the centre did. She was wearing a very simple tea length, A-line sleeveless grape-purple dress. Her dark brown hair had been curled and was pulled over one shoulder revealing the side of a pretty pale swan-like neck and the dark black and purple choker she wore around it that matched a small pair of black stud earrings.

She looked radiant as she talked and chatted with the gaggle of other teenagers and young adults who were all swooping in to congratulate her on a job well done.

Beside her, she had looped arms with a tall, dark young man in a suit, with high cheekbones and strange pale green eyes and light hair. Despite the boy's exotic features, the two of them made a rather charming couple as they carefully detached themselves from the gaggle of the girl's admirers, to get some drinks.

"Thanks" the girl stifled a yawn behind her hand as the boy handed her a glass of water, his eyes softened with deep affection.

_So…this is why she's taking so long to give me an answer. She's messing around with this fish-boy is she?_

The old man's eyes narrowed as the younger man looked up and caught his eye. Quickly Hallows senior smiled politely as he strode over cane in hand towards the pair.

"Christine, there you are."

"Grandpapa!" The girl, Christine, almost jumped and spilt her water all over herself as she turned to face him.

"Sorry-I just-here holds on a second." she smiled, though he could see the trepidation in her eyes as she put her drink on a nearby table and reached to give him a brief hug.

"Forgive me," her grandfather smiled, patting her back in a consoling manner as she pulled away "I've been trying to reach you for ages, but I got stuck at the end of the queue."

"I'm so sorry, Grandpa. If I'd known you were waiting I would've come to you straight away" Christine smiled nervously, her brown eyes meeting his own.

He might've been wearing contacts to hide the yellow colour, but nothing could wholly dull that eerie sharpness in them as he smirked.

"It's alright, sweetheart. It's to be expected after that marvellous performance."

"You saw me?" She gulped, and he smirked.

"But of course. What kind of grandfather would I be to miss my favourite granddaughter take the lead role in her first full ballet recital?"

"Grandpa, I'm your only granddaughter" Christine rolled her eyes fondly.

"All the more reason for me to come." He tapped his cane on the ground softly to emphasize his point. "but come, come where are your manners, my dear? Aren't you going to introduce me to your  _friend_?"

"What?" Christine blinked, flushing pink as she remembered the young man standing patiently behind her. "Oh-oh right yes, sorry. Um…Grandpapa this is-"

"Kaldur" the boy, Kaldur smiled politely, extending his hand forward in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Likewise young man. Likewise." Stuart Hallows Senior, winced as he shook the younger man's webbed hand "That's a firm grip you have there, son."

"Forgive me." Kaldur quickly withdrew his hand apologetically, but Hallows senior chuckled.

"Don't apologise. I always say you can tell a good man from the strength of his handshake, and yours is quite strong. I can see why my granddaughter is so fond of you. How long have you two been together now?"

_That's right my dear; I know exactly what he is._

He smirked to Christine whose face had suddenly paled to the colour of chalk as she spluttered.

"Only a couple of months grandpa."

"Two months, and yet already so close. How wonderful."

"We were good friends before we started dating, sir." Kaldur smiled, not noticing the terror building in his girlfriend's eyes as the victorious smirk spread over her grandfather's face as he said.

"Then you won't mind if I steal my little Christine away for a couple of minutes. It's been ages since we had one of our little heart to hearts" he gave an  _adoring_  smile to his granddaughter who was quick to force a smile at him.

"Of course, take all the time you need" Kaldur leaned down to quickly kiss Christine softly on the cheek. "I'll be with Dick and Wally if you need me"

"Okay," Christine sighed in defeat, as her grandfather suddenly linked her arm with his and steered her out of the room and out onto a deserted balcony.

"So…this is the reason your life is too  _complicated_  to make a decision" Hallows senior sneered as with surprising strength he shoved his granddaughter into the shadows behind a pillar. "You're exchanging spit with this half-breed from Atlantis?"

"Kaldur is not a half-breed" Christine hissed angrily as she tore her arm from his rough grip. "He's a good person-"

"Oh is he?" Hallows senior's lip curled "I wonder if he would still care about you if he knew exactly  _what_ you were?"

Christine's blood chilled in her veins, but then she steeled herself. No, the team had accepted Conner for being Superman's clone, bred to kill him. What could stop them from accepting her as a genomorph too?

"You can threaten all you like Grandpa" she straightened up and looked him directly in the eye. "But my friends are not like  _yours_. We have each other's backs. And if you dare try to hurt them, you'll have to deal with me, or god help me there'll be hell to pay!"

Her grandfather's smirk widened.

"Good answer."

"Wait-what?" Christine blinked. That…that wasn't the reaction she was expecting at all!

Her Grandfather straightened up, his smirk turning into a smile of pride as he reached out to put a pale claw-like hand on her shoulder.

"Your answer. It was good. Just as I expected it would be."

"Uh…excuse me?" she frowned, confusion wiping all anger clean from her mind.

"I was testing you." He tilted her chin to look him directly in the eye "I wanted to see how strong your conviction was to your friends. And you passed with flying colours."

"But-but wait hang on!" Christine shook her head out of his grip "You were testing my  **conviction**?! What for?"

"to see if you truly were ready to start training." her grandfather replied simply. "I know you're still thinking about your answer, and I'm fully prepared to wait for it however long it takes till you're ready. However, I was worried that perhaps I might've pushed the decision on you too soon. I needed to know if you'd be motivated enough to go through with it if you did decide to train with me."

"So what you, think insulting my boyfriend and threatening my friends was a good way to  **test**  me?" Christine scowled, folding her arms, but the old man wasn't phased in the slightest.

"In our line of work my dear, one must face a lot of threats." He leaned on his cane "I'm sure your boyfriend is a fine young man, but I'm telling you right now, you won't be able to protect him from people like your mother with your current level of training. You saw how easily she captured you and your friends on Thanksgiving. How she was able to get you to turn a gun on her-"

"Wait, how did you know about that?" Christine's eyes widened in shock. As far as she knew, only Batman and the boys knew about the incident with the gun, and there had been no Talon at the Boathouse hotel-unless…

"You have a man on the inside" she sighed.

"Yes, and I believe you know him quite well…" he trailed off, raising his eyebrows.

Christine's gut sank.

"No."

"Yes" her grandfather nodded.

"Oh-no-no-no-no-no. You can't possibly mean Ishan is one of your Talons?"

"He is" her grandfather nodded solemnly.

"Bu-But if he was working for you why did he stab me at Yellowstone! Why did he molest me in that ice fortress and-"

"Because that wasn't the real Ishan you saw at either event." Her grandfather steamrolled over her smoothly. "He was a copy, one of many which your mother had created to take the place of her Red Knights. My men have been hunting them down for months, trying to destroy your mothers and Luthor's Cadmus facilities. The Ishan you met at Yellowstone, and Ice Fortress One was the last of a long line of clones whom we captured and replaced with the real Ishan while he was in Bialya protecting Queen Bee."

"So the Ishan I met at the Boathouse-"

"Was your real friend. Yes" Her grandfather finished calmly.

"Oh my god" Christine leaned against the balcony railing hand over her mouth.

So Ishan was alive? And he wasn't a twisted, murderous, molesting psychopath (she hoped)? He truly was her old friend?

She shut her eyes as she remembered the way he had tried to shield her from the bullets during her mother's attack. He had sounded so sincere and the way he had looked at her when they'd first met outside that hotel. Shocked and happy to see her but not in a licentious way.

Her chest almost felt like it was going to burst as relief, joy and grief all welled up inside her, mixing like a potion in the cauldron of her stomach.

She quickly wiped at her suddenly wet eyes, grateful when her grandfather handed her a clean handkerchief from his pocket.

"Thank you" she mumbled.

"Do not cry my dear" Stuart Hallows Senior stroked a careful hand over her back consolingly as he started to lead her back into the party room. "This is a joyous occasion. Tonight is your night where you get to shine brightly, so smile and enjoy yourself. You've earned it."

Christine nodded meekly dabbing at her eyes yet again as she straightened herself up, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

"there we go. That's it, sweetheart. Oh no, keep it. I've got plenty more where those came from" Hallows Senior smirked, pressing the handkerchief back into his granddaughter's hand with a small oh-so-benign smile.

"Chris hey! There you are!" a voice called out, and the old man quickly stepped back to blend into the crowd as the ginger head of Wally West, and the dark head of raven locks of Dick Grayson suddenly zipped over to their spot.

Once he was out of eyesight of the two boys, Stuart Hallows senior scowled to himself.

While she was still wary of him, he knew he had finally started to worm his way into her confidence. He had shown her trust where her godfather had not. Had provided her with information and guidance when she felt lost. He'd even given her father back to her when the Justice League had proved incapable to do so. And he had promised her the strength to protect that which she loved.

And yet she still clung to the rest of her pathetic team like a lifeline. Those brats, who continued to hold her back from her real potential, much like how that Roy Harper had done with that gun.

_Junior was right; it will take a long time till I can break their friendship apart and snag this little bird from the nest._

He heard some giggles and a soft cackle and watched as his granddaughter gave an exasperated eye roll and a swipe to the back of the head of her teasing foster brother.

_Don't worry my little Talon; you'll be back with your right flock, you'll see._

He narrowed his eyes upon the girl, who smiled and laughed wholeheartedly, utterly unaware of the complicated web she was trapped within.

One which she wouldn't see until it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it, Episode 23! that's three more episodes to complete before this fic is complete! Yay!
> 
> So, Christine nailed her recital and her grandfather's still scheming behind her back. It was fun to write jealous Kaldur and oblivious Conner at the beginning. I gotta admit its sad to see Kaldur getting so little love on the YJ FF story page. Half the time he's written to the side as a rather bland always mature guy, who only offers the occasional advice. It's been fun writing more about him in this version of the fic and exploring his character.
> 
> I was going to re-write this chapter but then I was too drained to do a complete overhaul. Besides it took me forever to look up information about Ballet when I wrote this chapter the first time and I didn't want all that research to go to waste. I'm no Ballerina but I do love ballet. I don't know what it is about it but it's always fascinated me.
> 
> Anyways, you guys know the drill. Review and fave if you enjoyed and want to see the rest.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	24. Performance

_**Wayne Manor, December 24 1996, 11:43 EDT** _

Bruce had snuck out from the Bat Cave just after his Christmas patrol. Yep. Christmas patrol. Stuart was of course fast asleep in bed recovering from an injury, but even so, the Dark Knight had no trouble cleaning up his city. Though admittedly Christmas Eve was one of the least active days for crime in Gotham, which meant the Batman too got a holiday. This break was such a relief to him since he hadn't had the chance to visit the newest addition to his, Alfred's and, for the time being until his divorce had been sorted, Stuart's family.

"Master Bruce" Alfred called as he added the last finishing touches to the Christmas tree. "I need to fetch one or two ornaments from another box upstairs. Would you mind watching the little lady while I'm gone?"

"Not at all Alfred."

Now Bruce may keep the Batman persona as far away as he could from his public one as humanly possible, but both still shared some similarities. For one thing, both personas weren't the kind of guys that liked cute, adorable, sweet, cuddly in short, anything that made one go gaga or coo.

Bruce was the slightly over the top guy who delighted in the expensive and rich while Batman's tastes tended to lean towards the necessary, practical, grim and somewhat morbid if his choice in his (as Alfred so kindly put it) "evening activities" was anything to go by.

But despite these images he tried to maintain on both fronts, Bruce had to admit, the baby girl snoring lightly on a blanket on the floor, on the rug that lay in front of the fire was by far the sweetest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

Her pretty eyes were closed tight, lashes twitching as she dreamed. Though she lay on her back, her head lolled to the side, so that one side of her face squished against the blanket. She wriggled around in a little periwinkle blue onesie patterned with white snowflakes, with a small white beanie over her head.

Bruce carefully reached down to scoop her up in his arms. She whined a little bit at the change in position as he carried her over to sit in the armchair beside the fire beneath his parent's portrait.

She seemed to like Bruce the most, both in and out of costume, which was surprising as most babies and children were a bit scared of him at first meeting. It was always so embarrassing whenever he had to show his face at the Wayne foundation functions only to greet a child and have it instantly hide behind his parent's legs as soon as they saw him. He assumed that his tall height and broad build must be scary for most kids. But not to this little angel that was in his arms.

"Alright! Alright! Calm down! I'm sorry for disturbing your beauty nap" he chuckled rocking her a little as her face scrunched up and she let out a small mewl of discomfort. She was a grumpy sleeper and hated her naps being disturbed, but Bruce couldn't resist holding her like this. Stuart was going to take her back home with him and raise her as his own once he'd settled things with Scarlett, so Bruce was going to get as much time with the baby as he could because knowing him, it would be a long time till he ever had a kid of his own.

His face slowly slipped into a frown as she grabbed one of the fingers that was softly caressing her face and shoved it in her mouth to suck still whining in annoyance.

He and Stuart hadn't yet found a name for her. They'd gone through the top names of that year, such as Ashely, Megan and Jenifer. They'd tried flower and plant names. Then they'd gone through foreign names at Stuart's request, being a linguist, he thought he might be able to find one, but so far none seemed to suit her at all.

They'd even asked Alfred for some suggestions, but the only advice he could give was to give the girl something that could be nicknamed with tenderness and affection at home but also something that was refined and dignified, especially since she was going to be raised to become a lady in high society.

In Bruce's opinion he didn't care which culture the name came from, or how high or low brow it would be considered, but he did know that this girl needed to be called something pretty, unique and striking. In short, something just like her.

"You truly are a mystery" he sighed watching as his finger got covered by more drool. He took it out and quickly wiped it and winced when he heard her whimper of disapproval.

"Sorry missy but no" he chastised her softly

She began to whine now as if to say really.

"I want it back now!"

"My finger is not a pacifier" he frowned down in mock anger, but then winced when he heard the whimpers turn into cries.

"No! No! No! Don't cry" he hissed beginning to rock her again.

Oh god, what had he done?

He heard the radio from across the room and turned his head just in time to listen to a voice singing, though he couldn't make out the words

Maybe he could try and calm her down with the music while he tried to think of a solution. He looked down at the crying girl in his arms and began to rock her steadily as he made his way to the radio. He turned up the volume a little, and a lovely soprano voice sang out in a sweet, gentle voice.

"Say you'll love me every waking moment, turn my head with talk of summertime. Say you'll need me with you now and always. Promise me that all you say is true. That's all I ask of yo~u!"

The baby girl in his arm's cries began softening down at once at the sound of this new voice.

"So you like this huh?" Bruce smiled down at her as a man's voice wafted into the song.

"Let me be your freedom, let me be your light. You're safe no one will find you. Your fears are far behind you."

"All I want is freedom a word with no more night. And you always beside me to hold me and to hide me."

"Then say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime. Let me lead you from your solitude Say you need me with you here, beside you, anywhere you go, let me go too. Christine, that's all I ask of you..."

 _Wait? Christine? Who is-oh. Is this the Phantom of the Opera?_  Bruce opened his eyes as he pondered the musical's plot over in his head.

It followed the story of a musical genius with a facial deformity, which he hid behind a mask, obsessively trying to claim the heart of a beautiful songstress Christine Daae. After many attempts to take her for his own, including a couple of murders, the Phantom finally managed to bring her to his lair. However, in the end, he chose to let her go as he realised his feelings were unrequited for she had accepted her childhood sweetheart over him, though not before compassionately showing him the first form of love and kindness he'd ever had known. It was a sad story, about how love can bring out both the best and worst in a man. And yet the music made it sound so beautiful, as it captured the struggle and desperation of the man behind the mask as he tried to reach for a sliver of light in his dark, lonely world.

Dark…lonely.

The Phantom was not the only one who'd known that sort of pain.

He looked down at the baby girl in his arms. As the song had continued, she'd calmed down considerably, almost in fact back asleep with her thumb in her mouth. Holding her like this felt like holding a tiny light in his hands.

"…it's perfect…" Bruce felt himself smile fondly down at her and the twinge of pain almost vanished at once.

"What is?"

The Dark Knight, though he'd never admitted it in later years, almost jumped out of his seat as he turned to look up at Alfred who was leaning over his shoulder smiling down at the sleeping babe that was currently being held protectively in his charges arms.

"Her name" Bruce gently pulled the baby away from his chest to allow the old butler to see her better.

"Oh? And what name might that be?" the grey eyebrows rose as they shrewdly assessed the younger man.

Bruce looked back down at the baby in his arms, and his smile returned "Christine."

There was a moment of silence where Bruce waited with bated breath as Alfred's, moustache quivered and bristled with thought. But he needn't have worried because the older man smiled happily.

"It suits her well master Bruce.

Bruce sighed heavily in relief as he looked towards the Christmas tree under which several presents sat, wrapped up neatly with colourful paper and ribbons.

"I hope I didn't get her something too cheesy and kitsch" he frowned as he caught sight of one of the larger packages.

"Putting all those material presents aside master Bruce, you have already given more than your fair share of presents?"

"Like what?" Bruce looked back up at his confidant of many years with confusion.

"Well for a start you gave her a name, you've given her a home, a family. But most importantly you've given her your love like a father would, and that is a gift the little miss will treasure till the end of her days."

"I'm not her father, Alfred. By blood or by law" Bruce stared up towards his parent's portrait above the fireplace. Both were smiling down at him, but something was missing in their glance that the artist had not been able to replicate in the paint strokes.

"That's not what she seems to think" Alfred's eyes strained to the little babe who turned in her sleep to snuggle closer into Bruce's chest. "And something tells me that even if blood or law do not bind you, she will not change her mind."

And with that the butler left the room, leaving Bruce behind to stare down at the child in his arms.

_Me? A father…?_

Could it be possible? Could he fulfil the role of a father? He barely remembered much of how his father had raised him, and then when he'd died, Alfred had taken up the position though he was distant in his professional manner. But he, Bruce, was a different man to them both. Sure it wouldn't be easy to raise a kid, and there was the fact that he was Batman, but still…he'd much prefer the idea of being Bruce Wayne the dad instead of Bruce Wayne the witless, wealthy and lonely playboy.

**_Ding! Ding! Ding!_ **

The little girl in Bruce's arms mewled again with annoyance as the clock on the mantelpiece rang out the hour of midnight with a chiming sound that pierced the silence of the night.

Even if he couldn't be her dad, he still wanted to be a part of her life.

But the path of parenthood is strange and mysterious and little did the Dark Knight know that in fourteen years from now he would be struggling with a rebellious teenage daughter with superpowers and that he wouldn't want her to grow up at all.

But now she was sweet, innocent and untouched…and annoyed as hell at being reawakened from her nap once more. Chuckling Bruce rocked her gently in his arms and pulled her close up to kiss her forehead.

The whimpers faded into soft snores as the baby girl snuggled into her Daddy's chest as he whispered into her forehead.

"Merry Christmas Christine"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, December 15 2010, 15:34 EDT** _

"I still can't believe you've joined the team!" Swift exclaimed in excitement as she and Red Arrow walked down the length of one of the cave's numerous hallways.

"Yeah…I thought it would be…good to be able to work with you guys more often."

"Translation being that you miss hanging out with the old crowd" Swift smirked knowingly.

"…yeah…kinda" Red Arrow nodded before looking down at his feet, his face pink "But don't tell anyone else that ok? Because if you do, I will deny it!"

"Oh, my lips are perfectly sealed Mister Harper!" Swift replied lightly, though her eyes were mischievous.

Typically by now, the older archer would have snapped moodily in reply. Instead, he gave her a sneaky smirk.

"Speaking of lips, how far have you and Kaldur gone? Still just making out or have you both moved on to more-"

"ROY!" Swift whined her face turning fire hydrant red as Red Arrow sniggered wickedly.

"Come on; I'm just yanking your chain. So where is Kaldur anyway?"

"Visiting his parents in Atlantis. He won't be back for another two weeks or so." Swift smiled, remembering the sweet goodbye she had shared with her boyfriend just that morning in the Mount Justice Hall.

* * *

_"_ _Here, coordinates for Poseidonis all locked in and ready to go. And then it's just a short swim to Shayeris." Christine smiled as she prepped the Zeta-tubes with the cave's holo-computer._

_"_ _It's a shame you can't breathe underwater" Kaldur admitted as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "The reefs around my home will be in full bloom; I wish I could show them to you."_

_"_ _And I wish I could see them. What colour are they?" Christine smiled wrapping her arms around his neck._

_"_ _Purple." He murmured with a smirk._

_"_ _Damn, such a shame, that's my favourite colour." She pouted._

_"_ _Is that so?" He chuckled eyeing the warm fleecy purple jumper she wore. "Would you like me to bring you back anything?"_

_"_ _Yeah,_ _**you** _ _in one piece" she snorted._

_"_ _I'll see what I can do. But I can't make any promises" Kaldur smirked as he leaned in to kiss her softly "I'm joking. I'll see you in a couple of weeks."_

_"_ _See you then Kal"_

* * *

"Swift! Hello! Earth to Girl Wonder!" Swift blinked as a black-gloved waved in front of her face.

"Oh right, sorry Roy, just zoned out" She shook her head out to clear it of the broad dreamy smile, missing the way the red archer rolled his eyes.

"Tch! Twitterpated"

"Huh? What was that?" She looked at him, and he sighed heavily.

"Nothin'"

Swift quirked a brow and opened her mouth only to pause as a voice echoed from the main hall in front of them.

"Advanced weapon's tech has been stolen at manufacturing plants throughout Europe."

"I thought you said Batman didn't have any missions lined up right now" Red Arrow frowned to the girl wonder who shrugged as they made their way into the large hall.

Robin was standing in front of a holo-screen map of Europe, with Artemis, M'gann and Conner standing opposite him.

"And each theft coincides with tour stops made by the Haly's circus-"

_Oh, Dick._

Swift and Red Arrow both exchanged worried looks as they continued to walk towards the group. Robin didn't seem to notice them as he was finishing up.

"-Batman's sending us undercover to catch the thieves."

"This clown car have room for two more?" Red Arrow smirked with some satisfaction when Robin jumped round in surprise.

"Uh…uh…no, no! We got this covered…"

"You've got the mission covered" Red Arrow leaned in to whisper. "But who's covering the three potential mole suspects?"

"Alright you're in, but Swift is-"

"Coming with you." Swift narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Just because Kaldur isn't here doesn't mean I stop being lieutenant y'know."

Robin sighed as Red Arrow patted his shoulder with a smirk.

"You do know neither of us won't be able to stop her once she puts her mind to something, right?"

Robin's shoulders sagged. The archer had him on that one.

* * *

_**Bruges, December 22 2010, 20:08 CET** _

"You ready for this missy?"

"I'm ready. I hope I don't drop these contacts. Took me forever to get them on right now."

"Hey you just received a standing ovation for ballet, you'll be fine."

"It's not me I'm worried about. It's you."

"Me?"

"Yes Di-Dan you-"

_Shhh! Guys, we're on!_

A spotlight shone brightly on top of an elevated platform high above a sea of excited faces were two figures, a boy and a girl.

The boy was wearing a white tunic and mask with swirly red details over a pair of white tights and shoes, with his black hair mussed up over his head. The girl was also attired similarly, but she had a red leotard underneath her tunic with her white hair tied in a plaited bun and dark purple lipstick over her smiling lips.

They both smiled and waved down at the crowd before propelling themselves off onto a trapeze to swing high into the air, over the floor of the centre ring where a man in a red coat and black top hat with a cane in his hand announced loudly.

"[Dames en heren!] [Madame's et Messieurs!] Ladies and Gentlemen. WELCOME to The Haly International Travelling Circus; where the world of the centre ring is your oyster! And these are our latest  _pearls_  the Daring Dangers! Dan Danger!"

The spotlight shone on the flying boy as he let go of his partner in mid-air -

"Danielle Danger!"

\- As she caught onto another swinging girl's hands in mid-air. This one was dressed in just the same outfit but was taller and had light brown hair.

"Dawn Danger!"

Another pair of spotlights hit the floor where another couple, a girl lean and blonde-

"Diane Danger!"

-And a boy muscular and auburn haired-

"Dane Danger!"

Both prepped up their archery bows with three arrows each to shoot for the centre, just as another boy strongly built with black hair began to juggle large green barrels in the air between them.

"And Dean Danger!"

Three of the barrels were tossed high into the air, just as the archers released their six arrows. The three trapeze artists all let go of their poles and flew through the empty barrels in perfect sync.

The small girl with the tight white bun then caught the boy's hands as they swung away, her hanging onto the trapeze by her knees and him dangling from her wrists before letting go for a moment, twisting his body around, and catching them again. All before the trapeze had reached the peak of its ascent upwards.

"You have never seen a trapeze act like this folks, and all performed without a net!"

But then the audience gasped. The boy on the trapeze had been thrown forwards to be caught by the older girl, but their hands had missed each other in mid-air.

_ROBIN!_

M'gann and Christine both cried out in terror as they saw the boy wonder fall from the great height.

 _Don't blow our cover!_ Dick could feel through the mind link; the Martian girl shift into her telekinetic trance.

 _But saving your life's OK?_  Conner called up from the ground where he picked up an empty barrel and tossed it quickly into the air.

Dick caught it, and he quickly zoomed up towards Christine's hands which were swinging down towards him as she was held by the feet by M'gann who was hanging upside down from her knees.

_Oh no! You're too low!_

Christine gasped

 _Don't panic_!

Dick knew she was right, but still, he reached out desperately, even though his fingertips only grazed hers slightly

From a distance, he saw two tiny green lights shine behind M'gann's stage mask, and he suddenly felt his body lift those last few centimetres into his partner's grasp. She clenched his clammy hand tight.

_M'gann what did I just say?!_

Dick raised his eyebrows.

_The crowd couldn't see me doing telekinesis from below._

M'gann pouted as she, Christine and Dick all swung back up onto one of the podiums.

_Besides, I've been using it all night. I'm not exactly the acrobats you and Swift are._

_Yeah well, neither am I right now, I think I caught that twenty-four-hour bug that's been going around the circus. But the show must go on._

Dick sighed smiling as he felt his partner's hand squeeze his sweating one briefly. He was glad she'd pushed him to let her join him for this mission.

They performed a few more flips and daring dos before they all came down together to bow off in the centre ring. Roy and Conner were on the outside of the line up with M'gann and Artemis next to them (respectively) leaving both the birds in the centre.

_Now, what are you worrying your pretty head off for?_

Dick puffed as he put an arm around Christine's waist so that he could lean on her without looking too conspicuous. She glanced sidelong at him as they waved to the crowd and saw he was sweating profusely.

_For a moment there I wasn't sure if you'd make it through._

Christine admitted sidling slightly closer to him

 _Neither was I._   _Help me backstage_

He leaned a bit more into her allowing her to take on his extra weight as they and the others walked out of the spotlight and left the centre ring. As they passed through, they saw the fire breather, a man in a red devil kind of outfit, and the blonde-haired blue-eyed roustabout talking.

The latter caught Christine's eye as she walked by still holding Dick up as they struggled to get to their allotted spot backstage. He smiled at her, and she laughed back, though the boy wonder saw that when she looked away, something was troubling her.

"I'm not sure I like that guy" she explained quietly, noticing his questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know it's just…I just have a bad gut feeling I guess." They stopped as they reached their little area and put a hand to his forehead. "You've got a bit of a temperature."

"Really? I didn't even notice" He tried smiling, but it came out sloppy.

Christine rolled her eyes fondly, just as something gently nudged her side.

"Diva twins at twelve o'clock."

Roy nodded towards a pair of dark-skinned performers in blue and yellow costumes who were walking up to Haly who had just come off from presenting the next act.

"Haly what's the deal? Giving the top slot to those  _Danger_  kids!"

"That's our slot" the other twin hissed.

" _Was_  your slot" Haly corrected sternly "until you missed your performance in Paris."

"Carlo was sick! He's better now" the first twin gestured towards his brother who cried out in agreement."

"Plus, those Danger kids are a sham! They say they're brothers and sisters, but they don't even look alike. Heck, that little punk has white hair!" Carlo pointed at Christine's white bun.

"So, I dye my hair, so what?" she pouted rolled her eyes. She had decided to forego the glamour charm this mission, as she didn't want to risk Artemis recognising her civilian identity. Also, it would be suspicious for the doppelganger of Christine Hallows to be seen trapezing all over eastern Europe when she was supposed to be at home at Wayne Manor.

Besides, with blue contact lenses, a bit of dark purple lipstick, black eyeliner and a pair of clip-on helix earrings it was surprisingly easy to convince everyone she was Dick's punk goth twin with dyed hair. Though, it would seem that not everyone was comfortable with the disguise.

"So, it's unprofessional." Carlo the twin glowered at her.

"Agh! You don't like the competition" Haly shook his head in exasperation as he pushed past them only to come face to face with a grey-haired man in a dark suit.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Not you again! We're in the middle of a show!"

"Then we'll talk after. But we will talk" the man folded his arms as he stared grimly down at the old ringmaster "Another city last week, another tech firm robbed, another stop on  _your_  tour. If I prove you're responsible, I will shut you down."

Haly's face looked pale and stricken, but he took a deep breath and mastered himself.

"I've got three minutes to gather props and get back to the centre ring."

He strode away leaving the man in the suit in the same room as the team.

Dick straightened himself up as the man walked over to them, rummaging in his suit pocket for what appeared to be a badge which he flashed at them quickly.

"Faraday, Interpol. New act?"

"Yeah." Christine nodded as she recognised the symbol.

"Just joined the tour" Dick agreed, exchange a quick glance with her. The badge was legit they were sure of it, but that still didn't help their mood.

"Guess that clears you." Faraday sighed "But don't get too comfortable. Haly's going down for this"

He turned his back on them just as Dick made to baulk forwards angrily, but Christine grabbed her partner by the shoulders and pulled him back. Faraday glanced back at the boy wonder who narrowed his eyes dangerously at him, watching as the older man walked away to interrogate the rest of the circus acts.

"Whew, that was close" Christine loosened her grip and gently turned him so that he was looking her right in the eye.

"You still look out of it" she muttered putting her hand back to his forehead.

"I'm still going to that warehouse" Dick muttered mulishly.

"I know" she sighed in exasperation.

* * *

_**Bruges, December 22 2010, 21:36 CET** _

Swift was crouched next to Superboy as they peered over the edge of a building that was perpendicular to the large tech firm they were spying out.

_If Interpol's already on this, why are we bothering?_

Superboy grumbled in his head. He hated staking out like this, and they'd been in their spots for over half an hour already.

_Because Batman said so. Why? You had something better to do?_

Robin snapped. He and Miss Martian were standing on a building opposite the firm.

_Robin chill._

Swift narrowed her eyes as she gripped her war fans tighter in her hands. She felt the collective shiver throughout the mental link.

 _Sorry_.

The boy wonder mumbled apologetically.

_How do we know the thieves will hit here?_

Artemis called from her location with Red Arrow who narrowed his eyes as he peered down at the street.

_There are more obvious targets._

_And Faraday will probably have most of them covered_

Robin explained quickly.

_We've analysed the tech already stolen, and the pattern suggests this is the place. Ugh!_

_Are you ok Rob?_

Swift asked worriedly.

_No…pretty lousy actually. But I'll manage. I might need to hit the sack hard for a while._

Robin gave a lopsided grin.

_Fair enough. But still, try not to overexert yourself before that. You might make the fever worse._

_Ok, thanks for the tip, Nurse Swift._

_You just had to say that, didn't you?_

Swift rolled her eyes as she heard Artemis and Miss Martian snort through the link. She felt too Roy bristle uncomfortably, but Superboy was not paying attention to their teasing.

_Contact: North East Quadrant_

Swift's eyes snapped onto the point where Superboy was looking.

_Well, Well, Well! Now what have we got here_

Her eyebrows rose as a dark figure on the ground leapt over the perimeter fence with some pretty neat acrobatic skills

_Looks like we know why Carlo missed a performance_

Superboy nodded with narrow eyes.

_It could be Carlo…it could be his brother. But keep an open mind and move in_

Robin ordered. Swift jumped onto the ledge and was about to let loose her mechanical wings to fly when something clicked.

She turned and saw Superboy shoving something quickly into his pocket before rubbing at his forearm.

"Conner?" she asked timidly as she saw him grunt a little.

"I'm fine, just go."

Swift gulped but silently glided down to the spot where Robin, Miss Martian, Artemis and Red Arrow were all crouched in a huddle.

_Did you see where he went?_

Robin asked, but Swift shook her head

_Nope too dark even for my eyes_

There was a thump as Superboy landed behind her. He was getting better at landing quietly from his super jumps.

After a couple of minutes of silence, he narrowed his eyes

"He's at the warehouse."

They all made their way silently in the direction Superboy was pointing, and soon they found themselves in the shadows of an immense crowded warehouse.

Swift and Robin were at the head sneaking around a large crate until the girl wonder pricked her ears.

"Shh! Did you hear that?" She tilted her head towards it as it carried the sound of wood breaking.

_This way_

She motioned to Robin who grinned.

 _Good work missy_.

He nimbly jumped up on top of a nearby crate. With a puff of super breath, Swift quietly launched herself to join Miss Martian in the air as Superboy, Artemis and Red Arrow all jumped up on adjacent crates.

They saw the darkly clothed masked man below as he broke open a crate with a crowbar and took out a metal box from within.

Robin let out a soft cackle that echoed eerily around the almost dead warehouse walls.

"Caught red-handed! Red-faced too I'll bet."

The thief wheeled around and saw them up above him just as Artemis clenched her hand around the arrow fitted to her bow.

"Acrobatics won't get you out of this"

But the thief had taken something out of his pocket. Something that looked very much like…

Swift's eyes widened as she and the team were forced to jump away from the sudden burst of fire that the thief had breathed at them with the torch. She landed on a box far away from her teammates and crouched low ready to attack but then she heard Red Arrow call her name.

"Swift! Those crates are full of live ammo! MOVE!"

Swift looked down and saw to her horror the white painted letters of the two words flickering in the light of the dancing flames that were eating up the wooden crate greedily.

She flew upwards and away, speeding with desperation for the large metal crate that the rest of her friends were currently taking cover. Red Arrow was at the doorway with Superboy holding it open as Miss Martian was dragged inside by Artemis and Robin.

"Give me your hand!" Red yelled as she came within hearing.

Wildly Swift reached out, but she was still too far away. There was a loud boom behind her, and she turned her head to see one of the crates of live ammo explode.

She kept pushing herself against the wind with her wings, but she was still too far away.

"Damn it!" she cursed as she was whipped off course by an intense blast of hot air from another explosion of live ammo.

"SWIFT!? SWIFT NO!" Red Arrow's yells were cut off as the crate accidentally slammed shut in the girl wonder's face.

**_BOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!_ **

Swift swooped to the ground and held herself tight together in a ball behind a large crate, curling her metal wings around her body like a shield, while her hands covered her ears.

She could feel the scorching heat of the flames through the metal barrier of her wings as she was thrown against a concrete wall. Thankfully she was still protected against the worst of the blast, but her head throbbed from where it had accidentally been hit.

"Ow…" she grunted as she moved her wings, only to find something heavy resting on top of them.

She craned her head up and groaned.

A large metal crate was pressing down on her from above while the flames around her flickered and crackled hotly.

_Maybe I can shift it!_

"GUYS!" She called out as she tried crawling onto her hands and knees. Her ears were ringing loudly, and half the sounds around her were almost entirely muffled.

She could vaguely hear the deep bass sounds of crashing as some beams fell to the floor from the ceiling. She tried scrambling to her feet but could barely move from where the heavy crate above her wedged itself against her wings.

"Come on, come on! GAH!" she roared as with one last mighty push of the metal wings, she managed to bounce the crate up off her back for just a moment.

With a cry of relief, she dove forwards before gravity could reclaim it, and it hit the ground. There was a sickening crunch and screech as the crate it splintered and broke apart, along with the expensive antique car that it had held inside it.

"-ris!" a muffled voice cried out amidst the ringing in her ears.

She gasped and panted for breath as she scrambled on the ground on all fours.

Her head spun with dizziness as she tried to right herself, but it was hard. The flames around her were so hot; her whole body was drenched in sweat, she could barely think straight. Each breath she took was dry and she wretched as smoke went right up her nostrils.

Then suddenly a pair of strong hands looped around her shoulders from behind and pulled her up into a standing position. She gingerly pulled her arm around her saviour's neck and felt the fletching of arrows graze her gloved hand.

"Roy"

"Don't worry Chris I gotcha! Just hold on."

Swift held on tight as the archer pulled her up into his arms bridal style and carried her away from the wreckage to struggle along to the others.

But Swift caught sight of Superboy as he was beginning to dart away.

"That guy's dead meat!"

"Superboy!" Robin called as he held onto a weak and weary Miss Martian. "You need to get her out."

"He's getting away" the super clone growled.

"And that matters more than Miss M? The fire's killing her!"

Superboy paused for a moment and shook his head.

"Right…right." He took his Martian girlfriend from the boy wonder's hold and dashed out.

"Artemis…Arrow…find Swift, find the thief argh!" Robin fell to his knees.

"Because he matters more than you?" Artemis dashed forwards and pulled her friend to his feet. He saw his partner safe and sound in Red's arms and sighed as the older guy nodded.

"You're still off your game pall. We're getting you both out too"

* * *

_**Bruges, December 23 2010, 06:24 CET** _

Christine didn't remember anything of what happened after they'd gotten out of the factory. She'd promptly fallen asleep in Roy's arms as he carried her back into the bioship and had remained asleep until early that morning when Artemis had shaken her lightly from their train compartment.

"Hey, you ok?" the blonde smiled down at her friend, her touch on her shoulder surprisingly gentle.

"Yeah…still a bit bummed out but I'll manage" Christine grunted sitting up and noticing for the first time that she was already in her Danielle Danger costume again.

"M'gann and I changed you while you were sleeping" Artemis took a step back to let her swing her legs over the side of the small bed.

"Thanks" she yawned stretching and then clutched her stomach which had just grumbled loudly.

"Ugh! Oh man, I need food."

"We need to meet the others in the big top first. Then we'll go get food."

"Ok"

After a few moments of washing up, putting on her makeup, earrings, blue contacts and plaiting her white hair, Christine followed Artemis over to the big top, where M'gann and the boys were currently milling around trying to gather news or intel about the other performer's whereabouts last night.

As soon as Dick saw his partner up and about, he immediately ran up to her and hug her.

"Good morning" he whispered into her ear.

"Good morning to you too" she pulled away to look him up and down "you're looking better."

"Yeah…the fever went down a couple of hours ago, and I feel great" his grin faltered for a moment as he looked down on her "You are one of the dumbest and luckiest people I've ever known" he gently knocked her forehead with his knuckles.

"Oww Di-Dan" she whined rubbing up at the now red spot above her white and red costume mask.

Roy rolled his eyes at the pair fondly, only to glower as he caught sight of a familiar head of grey hair. He caught Artemis, M'gann and Conner's looks and they all nodded.

_Not trying to interrupt this happy reunion or anything but Faraday's back._

Both birds split away from each other with a jump as they were both treated to a mental elbow to the ribs. They turned and saw Faraday and Haly both hissing at each other in the shadows of the tent.

"Another weapons plant is hit, and once again the circus is in town. I don't believe in coincidences" the Interpol officer frowned as Haly's face turned red with anger.

"I don't care what you  _believe._  My people are not responsible. I did a bed check last night, every single member of my troupe was asleep in their bunks."

_Well, we sure weren't._

M'gann thought grimly over the link as they watched the two adults continue to argue.

_And if he's lying about us?_

Artemis agreed.

_He could've checked our beds after we came back too, so maybe he didn't lie._

Christine suggested quickly noticing the dejected look on Dick's face. However, nothing more was said as they all went back into the train and to their compartment.

As soon as they were securely inside, Christine immediately hovered up to the luggage and took out from her pack a jumbo-sized protein bar.

"Hey, could you fetch me my glove too Missy?"

"Sure" Christine shut her case and moved onto Dick's, quickly tossing him his black glove with the holo-computer before gently floating down to an empty seat to sit cross-legged.

_So, two thieves', right? The fire-breather and one of the Acrobats_

Artemis suggested as Dick pulled up a holo-screen.

_Maybe not just two. Here's the Madrid footage. And now Paris_

Christine narrowed her eyes at the footage as she munched on her food bar. Each one had footage of a circus act that she had most definitely seen under the big top but there was something odd about it. For one thing, both the figures in the footage and the thief, they'd found last night all had the same kind of build.

_So, the strong man and the clown too_

Roy folded his arms.

_If the entire circus is involved, Haly himself may be the mastermind-_

_You don't know that!_

Dick quickly cut across him, hurt and panic both flaring up through the mental link.

_I-It would explain his lies_

M'gann looked at Robin with confusion.

"I told you to keep an open mind!"

Robin cried out loud and sprang to his feet.

"Rob wait they didn't mean it like-" Christine called, but he was already through the door and running down the length of the hallway.

"Argh! Great" she huffed walking over to the door. But instead of closing it she stepped outside. "You guys keep talking; I'll go find him."

She shut the door quickly before any of them could open their mouths.

"Of all the times you had to run off wonder boy" she rolled her eyes as she turned a corner and promptly ran into someone.

"Oof!"

She stumbled backwards just as someone grabbed her arm.

"You ok Danielle?" Jack Haly smiled down at her and pulled her up to her feet.

"Yeah, thanks" Christine gulped flushing slightly from both embarrassment and nerves.

She hadn't been this close with the older man since that rainy day at the funeral of…

"Sorry 'bout that. I didn't look where I was going" she jumped away from him and scratched the back of her head laughing nervously.

"It's alright. This happens a lot since this corridor is so narrow" the old man smiled kindly down at her.

"Yeah, I guess it is." She nodded "Umm…Mr Haly, you haven't seen Dan around here have you?"

"Dan? No, I can't say I have" Haly shook his head "Why did something happen?"

"Uh…no not really, the family and I are about to discuss our act again, but he's run off somewhere to explore,  _again_ ," she added a roll of the eyes that made Haly chuckle.

"Well, you know what they say. Boys will be boys."

"Yeah…especially this one" she giggled before he gave a heavy sigh.

"Uh…is there something wrong Mr Haly?"

"Nothing, nothing…it's just that you reminded me of someone I once knew."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Christine blinked up at him in confusion as he looked down on her thoughtfully.

"Just a friend. He was an excellent acrobat himself, though he only performed with us for a few months before moving on. This was about, what, three-no-four or so years ago, had a terrific knack for languages too. Hmm, what was his name again? Oh yes, that's right! Junior! Stuart Hallows Junior"

If ever there was a point Christine had ever thought she'd die of a heart attack it would have been then. Haly didn't seem to notice. He was too busy reminiscing about the past to see her pale, stricken expression.

Her hand instinctively went up to her chest where the metal dog tag was hidden in the bosom of her costume.

"I'm Sorry to cut you off Mr Haly, but I've gotta find Dan quick."

"Ok! See you at the tent" the older man called after her. As she bolted out into the snow, his expression wavered for a moment. "She does look like you Junior" he muttered shaking his head fondly.

Meanwhile back in the corridor, Christine sighed heavily.

She could not believe what she'd just heard.

Her father, who was supposed to be MIA Bialya four years ago had been doing undercover work for the Court of Owls at Jack Haly's circus. The same very circus in which her partner had been raised.

_But what would the Court of Owls want with Haly's circus? Unless Papa was using it as a cover to move about the country?_

Christine supposed she should've expected this; she rolled her eyes as she zipped up her snow jacket and stepped outside the train.

It was snowing heavily, white flakes falling gently down on top of her equally pale locks.

She heard her commlink beep in her ear and quickly glanced around. Thankfully she appeared to be completely alone.

"Hello?" She picked up the call.

"Hello Christine" a deep soothing voice smirked into her ear.

"Hey Kaldur" she smiled in relief "How are you?"

"Fine. I just came back from Atlantis."

Christine's heart sank. Crap, she'd completely forgotten he would be coming back to the cave today.

"Oh my god, Kaldur! I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. We've been on this mission and-"

"Don't worry" Kaldur cut across her gently, "I understand. Wally's here at the cave with me, and we've been enjoying each other's company."

"You mean he's roped you in for one of his Bro movie nights" Christine smirked, and Kaldur chuckled in her ear.

"I take it you're familiar with his practices."

"Only too well" she sighed, and he chuckled in her ear. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

"It's alright. Wally explained to me what's going on." Kaldur assured her "How's Dick faring?"

"Not good. He's just run off, and I'm looking for him." Christine admitted, her smile falling as she looked up and down the length of the black train. "He's trying not to show it, but he's anxious about this. This circus was his home, and Jack Haly was like a grandfather to him. I only hope it all turns out for the best, if only for Dick's sake."

"So do I" Kaldur sighed on his end. "And how about you? You sound exhausted."

"Yeah, we had a hectic night last night." Christine snorted "Chased the culprit to this warehouse which kinda, might've exploded while we were still inside."

"Exploded?" Kaldur sounded worried, but she quickly steamrolled over him.

"It's okay. We all got out just fine. M'gann was a bit out of it, but she's perked up since then."

"And the culprit?"

"Escaped. But I have a hunch we'll run into him soon" Christine looked up the length of the train again and smiled in relief as she caught sight of a familiar head of short raven hair.

"Listen I'll call you later, I've just found Dick, and he looks a bit…well…y'know…"

"Of course, I'll leave you too it then. I'll see you when you get back."

"Yeah see you then. I love you, bye"

* * *

"I left you behind because you know my backstory, I didn't want my best pal questioning my objectivity."

" _Dude, that's what a best pal's for_ "

"…Listen …I just…I need some time to think ok."

" _Du_ -" bzzzt!

"Sorry Wally" Dick sighed under his breath as he pulled his hand back from the com in his ear.

He looked up at the posters next to him on the side of the train but didn't see them. The vision from many times before was playing over in his head…again.

_They were lying so still. Their bodies warped, limbs sticking out at horribly unnatural angles, interlocking with his aunt's, uncle's and cousin's like a grotesque puzzle, all set within a blood red board._

_"_ _Mama…Tati…" he breathed._

_Then everything was a blur._

_Police sirens and cops all around, yellow tape around the ring. One moment he was being prodded and poked by paramedics, next he was speaking to a man who called himself Commissioner Gordon. Then there was a blanket around his shoulders, and he had no idea where it had come from, and then he was running. Running away from the social services person that had come to pick him up to take him to juvenile hall._

_The circus passed in a haze of colours and lights but all that Dick could see in front of his eyes was a massive black pit, threatening to engulf his body whole._

_Where could he go? How far could he run? Where would he run to? How could he escape this nightmare?_

_He spotted a small dock. There! That was his escape! He'd just run onto it when-_

"Hey!"

Dick's eyes snapped open as someone put their hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Christine looking up at him worriedly.

"You ok? I was calling you for five whole minutes."

Despite it, he couldn't help but smile back as a sense of calm washed over him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Dick…what's wrong?" her voice was soft despite the whipping wind and the lack of other people around them.

"Sorry" he muttered resting his forehead against hers. "Got lost in thought."

"You were thinking about that day again weren't you?" she murmured glancing at the colourful Flying Grayson's poster they were standing in front of. She'd seen it many times before. Dick had his own smaller print of it hanging up in his room at the manor, but this one was a lot bigger and was a more faded with age.

Dick nodded still just holding her there with him.

"I know it's been five years…but I still sometimes…hmm," he shut his eyes tight trying to dispel the bloody images from his mind.

"I know" Christine's voice shook slightly as her grip on his black jacket tightened. "I know…"

She leant up and kissed the bridge of his nose as he choked back a sniff and felt her own eyes well up. She couldn't bear hearing him struggle like this; it always made her feel like crying too. But she couldn't, not now when he needed her support.

"I-I'm sure whatever's going on Jack's innocent" she mumbled through trembling lips.

"You think so?"

"Yeah…whatever is going on it's scaring him too…"

"Did you speak to him?"

"Yeah…just bumped into him now as I was looking for you…" She couldn't help but falter as the memory of the corridor wafted over her mind.

Dick saw her bite her lip.

"What did he say?"

"Just…that I reminded him of…my…father…"

Dick's eyes widened in shock. "What? Jack knew your dad?"

"Yeah…apparently he ran away to join the circus when he was…our age" she shut her eyes tight and gulped to swallow her sob "I…It's weird y'know. I was his daughter, and he never told me anything…"

Dick's grip around her waist tightened as she tried pulling herself back together.

"Sorry… I'm super selfish" she sniffed "this is a mission to save one of your friends, and I'm piling on my problems onto you."

"Hey it's ok" he smiled "Besides we're partners aren't we? This is what we do. We trust and have each other's backs no matter what."

Christine nodded the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. "Yeah…no matter what."

They pulled away from each other still smiling as they linked hands as they walked down the length of the train, not noticing the pair of glinting amber eyes watching them from the shadows of a compartment window.

"So, what were you doing out here?" Dick asked after a minute or so of comfortable silence.

"Looking for you dummy" Christine rolled her eyes as she nudged his side "And talking with Kaldur."

"Kaldur?" Dick frowned only to grin as a realization hit him "Oh yeah that's right he came back from Atlantis today. How's he doing?"

"Okay. He's hanging out with Wally at the cave." Christine shrugged smiling as she relived the conversation in her head…only to freeze to a halt.

"Chris? Chris, what's wrong?" Dick frowned as his partner's face turned the colour of the snow around them.

"Oh, crap…"

"What?" Dick grabbed her shoulders. "What happened?"

"NOOO! What have I done!" she groaned, her cheeks now flushing red with embarrassment "Oh god, I can't believe I said that-"

"Said what? Chris, what are you talking about?" Dick frowned, confusion masking everything else. Just what had happened to make her ears that pink.

"Okay, I'll tell you." She gulped as she urgently checked for any eavesdroppers ", but you gotta swear that you won't tell anyone else."

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Artemis smirked as Christine sat down in their compartment, face in her hands. "I can't believe you just told Kaldur you loved him by accident!"

"Neither can I" Dick cackled wickedly as his partner spared him a nasty glare.

Roy meanwhile was almost crying tears of mirth as he doubled over, clutching his stomach which hurt so much from laughing hard.

"Ha! Only you Swift! Only you!"

It was nighttime, and it had been a long day for all of them.

That night's show had ended three hours ago, and all their team were now on the train. Once the show was over, a very amused Dick could not contain himself any longer and had wasted no time in telling the others the girl wonder's massive blunder over the phone.

"Oh, I can't believe I was so stupid" Christine groaned, doing her best to ignore the sniggers and chuckles around her. "I was just talking with him, and it just slipped out at the very end!"

"But what's the matter with that?" Conner frowned in confusion, not liking the way his surrogate sister's face crumpled under with humiliation. "If you do love him, why should you be so embarrassed to admit it out loud?"

"Because I don't know if he feels the same way! For all I know he might not love me back!" Christine cried out, her face reddening as she realised what she'd just said.

_Oh my god, I just said I'm in love with him out loud! Could this day get any worse?_

She moaned in anguish as she sat down with Conner beside poor M'gann who was lying on the seat in a blanket looking terrible.

_Don't worry about it, Swift. I'm sure Kaldur does love you back. And Conner's right, there's nothing wrong with admitting how you feel._

Martian girl smiled gently up at the younger earth girl as she reached out for her hand.

"Listen, forget Kaldur for a moment. What's more important now is that we figure out how to get you better." Christine sighed returning the Martian girl's grip gratefully as the laughter around her quickly died down.

"I sorry M-Dawn" Dick apologised as he came to sit by M'gann's side "I hope you didn't catch it from me?"

"Argh I feel so silly" M'gann groaned wearily "Who knew a Martian could be vulnerable to a human virus?"

"Uh…maybe H.G. Wells?" Christine shrugged trying to lighten the mood. M'gann got the reference and chuckled but winced soon after. She must've gotten a headache too. Christine went over and put a hand to her forehead.

"Yep thought as much…just the same kind of fever wonder boy had. So when did you start feeling sick?"

"Just after boarding the train. It came on suddenly" M'gann frowned a little as she thought it over.

"Same with me the other night" Dick nodded "I remember Ray rubbing my head for good luck right before we went on"

"Ray? That roustabout?" Conner growled "He touched her before we boarded. That guy must be a walking petri dish."

"Yeah…maybe" Dick's face seemed to dawn with comprehension, and he quickly ran out the door.

Christine strained her ears and heard his and Jack's voices waft through the door.

"So Jack how long has Ray worked for you?"

"I picked him up at the start of the European tour; poor lad's down with the same flu like the rest of them."

"Then we'll check on him" Artemis suggested as she, Roy and Conner all poked their heads through the door. "Least we can do."

"If you insist," Jack chirped.

Christine looked down at M'gann who was trying to sit up.

she rolled her eyes specific helped her teammate to her feet and out the door

"You should stay in bed" Dick quirked an eyebrow up at M'gann who gave him a weak smile.

"As a friend of mine once said, I'll manage."

"Seriously you guys are all so stubborn" Christine huffed under her breath as she and Dick brought up the rear of their group as they made their way down the length of the train.

They came down a couple of carriages before they reached ray's compartment, which turned out to be also a storage space where lots of the circuses props and rigging had been packed away.

"Guess he wasn't that sick" Conner muttered as they came across an empty bed.

"Hey, take a look at this" Christine crouched by the side of a large crate labelled Elephant food.

"Does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?" Roy tilted his head in confusion as Christine took a crowbar from the wall and started to lever up the top of the crate.

"Not on foreign tours" Dick shook his head before.

_CRACK!_

Christine had stomped her foot down on her end of the crowbar, peeling the wood away from the nails that held it firmly in place before swinging open with a faint thump against the wall behind.

"Empty" she muttered darkly.

"Wait" Roy quickly grabbed the lid before it could swing down again and pushed it behind the box before reaching down inside. He swiped the bottom of the wood with his finger and pulled it up for them to see in the dim light.

He gave it a tiny flick with his tongue before spitting back into the box. "Ash"

"Uh…Guys!" Artemis called, and they all turned to see her pull out from beneath the mattress on the bed a rubber mask with blonde hair. "I found Ray."

"Split up search the whole train!" Dick ordered.

They all scattered at once, with Artemis, M'gann and the boys all taking to the corridor. Christine, on the other hand, found a window and quickly jumped out into the cold night air, extending her mechanical wings. She flew over the train keeping watch over the rooftops of each of the carriages until she heard Dick's voice in her ear.

" _Danielle, Dane, Dean, Diane. Come in! We're chasing someone who's stolen Dawn's act. Her whole shtick if you catch my drift_."

"Caught it loud and clear" Christine landed on the roof the dining cars and did a sweep with her eyes. Completely deserted. She heard a couple of thumps as something crashed beneath her.

" _I got him_ " Superboy called through the com " _But he's onto me. Exiting the dining car now._ " Christine's eyes widened as she wheeled back around to see a giant figure in the clown's costume clamber up to join her on the roof.

"He's _gone topside!_ "

"Yeah tell me something I don't know" Christine bent her knees and put up her hands as the made-up face's eyes widened before splitting in an insane grin.

"Come on little girly, show me whatcha got" came a deep sneer.

Christine tensed and was about to grab her war fans when something shoved into her, pushing her onto the roof behind. Using her wings to create some drag, she skidded to a stop on her feet and looked up. The clown was facing Conner who seemed to be opposite him crouching low on the roof.

"That won't work on me clown" the super clone growled.

Christine ran forwards and nimbly jumped over the divide between carriages just as Dick came clambering up the ladder.

"That's no clown. It's the Parasite!" Dick pointed to the clown.

"What you mean the guy who once stole Superman's powers?" Christine's eyes widened as the said villain turned around to leer at them.

"Oh, as if you kids are who you claim to be, please" the man grunted, and his face suddenly mutated into something purple and hideous.

Christine gripped her hands tight in fists, but Dick grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Stay out of his reach! There's no flu going around. The weakness comes when he makes physical contact as he feeds off the powers and abilities of others."

Parasite grinned eyeing the way both birds stood close together.

"I have been a bit of a glutton today. Chowed down on the skills of nearly every loser on this troupe. But  _oh my._ " He licked his lips as M'gann, Artemis and Roy came up from the ladder to the roof.

"The piece de resistance was Dawn Danger, or whatever her real name is. Thought I'd munch on either hers or your little girlfriend's trapeze skills. But imagine my surprise when she tasted like Martian Manhunter instead. Mhmmm. She made a lovely appetiser but guess who I want for my entrée?"

Before any of them could react, Conner was pulled forwards by Parasites new telekinetic powers and grabbed in the super villain's hands.

"Mmnnn! Now that's the full-bodied Kryptonian flavour I  _love_!" there was a grunt as Conner went limp in his hold.

"Everyone stay whelmed!" Dick ordered sharply noticing the now scathing look on his partner's face "Subdue but keep your distance."

There was the smell of burning metal as Parasite turned his eyes onto Artemis and Roy's bows which incinerated in their very hands.

"Y'know I almost never say this…but I'm satiated."

He dropped Conner to the ground and grinned. "Hate to eat and run."

He took off, a large metal box levitating beside him. Dick jumped onto it but was hit back.

"You mother fu-AHH!"

"Sorry, no hitchhikers!" Parasite grinned as both Boy and girl wonder rolled off the side of the train. M'gann luckily grabbed Dick, but Christine had scraped some of the treetops before she had gained enough consciousness to fly herself back up.

"Owww…" She grunted rubbing at the now itching scratches of her arms but then she gasped as Dick and M'gann were struggling to hold onto the side of the train. She ran over to help them up along with Roy, and Artemis and within seconds they were all safely back on the roof.

There was a grunt behind them.

"Conner!" M'gann suddenly exclaimed as Conner tried to struggle to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…fine" he shrugged her off rubbing his forehead.

"You're drained" Dick cried out with wild shock "Parasite took more power than you have. Heat vision?"

"I have the genetic potential for it! Must've been enough for him" Conner shrugged.

"Argh!" Dick growled with frustration.

"Let's get back to the compartment, suit up and, rethink our strategy," Christine said putting a hand on his shoulder. They all nodded in agreement and went back inside.

Once back in their compartment they got dressed again in their standard uniforms.

Swift felt relieved to be wearing her suit again and to have her utility belt and garters back on. She never did feel that comfortable without them.

"Well it wasn't a complete debacle" Robin grinned as he showed everyone a tiny blue USB in his hand "I picked Parasite's pocket, got this flash drive."

"Nice" Swift smirked as he plugged it into the holo-computer in his glove. The software installed was quickly hacked into, and soon the boy wonder was reading the data on the screen.

"Looks like Parasite's working for Intergang. Everything he's stolen looks like pieces of something. They're putting together a weapon that makes… Black holes?!"

"Oh, come on!" Red Arrow scoffed loudly "To build that you'd need a particle accelerator."

"Like the large Boson Collider in Geneva?" Swift narrowed her eyes in annoyance as Red Arrow's eyes widened

"The circus's next stop…but now that Parasite can fly he's got a big head start on us."

"Sorry" Miss Martian apologised, still looking kind of glum. Her powers were still somewhat drained from Parasite's feeding but even, so she was suited up to fight.

"It's not your fault M'gann before we knew his game Parasite could've taken any one of our powers at any given time" Swift nodded consolingly.

"That's true" Robin stood up ", but this thing could wipe out entire cities. We need to hurry."

"You and I need to hurry" Red Arrow corrected him grabbing a spare bow from his luggage "Without powers, the others would hold us back."

"Uh  _excuse_   _me_? What am I chopped liver? I've still  _got_  my powers completely intact!" Swift scowled as she put her hands on her hips.

"Which is why you of all people should remain behind" Red frowned down at her "If Parasite got hold of your night vision and echolocation he could be even more deadly. Who knows what the hell he could unleash?"

"Well it certainly can't be worse than any hell I'll give the two of you if you leave me behind" she snapped angrily.

"I'm with Swift. Besides you're not the only one with a backup bow" Artemis jumped to her feet and grabbed her crossbow from beside her as-

BANG!

"And powers are back" Conner growled as he took his hand out of the small crater in the wall.

"How did you-" Miss Martian begin but he cut across her.

"I guess Kryptonian's recover faster than humans and Martians."

Miss Martian grinned at this and stood up "Don't even think about leaving me behind."

Swift smirked as Red Arrow, and Robin's shoulders both fell with exasperation.

* * *

_**Geneva, December 24 2010, 00:37 CET** _

They ran up the stairs in front of a large building and came across the bodies many security guards scattered over the ground.

Robin dashed up to one of them and checked his pulse. But he needn't have worried, because the man stirred slightly before falling back unconscious.

"Trail of destruction, this way" He pointed in the direction of the door. Swift moved silently amongst the others her feet barely making a sound against the hard floor until suddenly there was a sharp pain in her head.

"Oww…" she grunted and fell behind, clutching at her head.

"Hey what happened?" Artemis hissed, but Swift could not see or hear her

_She was floating in her genomorph pod in that underground lab again._

"Hey, Swift!"

_Her grandfather stood in front of her, his large claw-like fingers scraping against the glass._

"Swift come on!" Artemis shook her shoulders, but her expression had gone strangely blank.

_"_ _One day you'll be ready."_

"Arghhh! You can't black out now!"

_"_ _One day you'll be the strongest Talon."_

"Oh god! I don't wanna do this -"

_"_ _And nothing anyone can do will stop it-"_

Kathwack!

Swift blinked. Everything was dark around her, except for the sight of Artemis's glowering face.

"Wha…What happened?" she breathed putting a hand to her now stinging cheek.

"You blacked out for a moment, now come on! We found Parasite!" Artemis rolled her eyes and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Parasite…right" Swift shook her head to clear it as she was pushed over to where the others huddled around Robin who was keeping watch on the optical feed.

"We need to take him down" Robin narrowed his eyes. "Or at least lure him away so we can safely disengage the-"

"NGHHAAA!" Superboy suddenly burst forth with such a loud yell that Swift jumped backwards in surprise.

"Superboy no!"

But too late he'd already ripped through a doorway and charged at Parasite who grinned.

"Seconds? No, I couldn't."

"Oh, shit this is not good. If he gets a double dosing of Superboy's strength-" but then she cried out as another shot of pain went through her skull.

"Swift!" Robin grabbed her as she fell to the floor. Oh god, this headache was just as severe as when she'd been at Yellowstone.

It was then she realised she could hear a high-pitched whining in the distance.

"Damn! There's some high-pitched frequency! I think he's activated the collider!" she shuddered as suddenly the pain shot through her ears to the rest of her body.

Her hearing was super sensitive; it would stand to reason that she'd be able to pick up specific high and low frequencies. And then there was the modified collider. From what she could make out from the readouts on her holo-computer both gravity and the earth's magnetic field were almost wholly distorted around them as well.

_That would explain why all the birds around us are flipping out!_

She grunted as she watched several flocks of birds flying haphazardly over their heads.

Wait a moment! She was part bird too…did that means the change in the magnetic field was affecting her as well?!

_That would explain why I'm so disoriented…ugh!_

She stumbled on her feet as she tried to take a step forward.

"Man, talk about a stupid weakness" she rolled her eyes with annoyance.

"Weakness? Agh! Hello Megan! That's it!" Miss Martian's face lit up like a Christmas tree "Swift you're a genius!"

"I am?" the girl wonder quirked a brow in confusion.

"Yes! If Parasite can take our strengths what's stopping him from taking our weaknesses too?"

"Yeah but unfortunately we don't have a bar of Kryptonite around now do we?" Red Arrow rolled his eyes as they heard the thumps as Superboy was tossed around the adjacent room.

"Yeah, but he didn't just get Superboy's powers did he?" Miss Martian raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! OH!?" Artemis's eyes widened "That's right he got yours too. So that means-We could light a fire!"

"Wow you were way too excited over that…what were you a serial Pyromaniac in your past life or something?" Swift snorted stumbling back onto her behind woozily.

Robin was about to say something, his face stricken pale when Parasite's voice called mockingly out to them

"C'mon out Dangers. Only a couple of minutes before this baby's done warming up and eats Geneva."

"Well, what do you think?" Miss Martian gulped looking at the broken door.

"Big risk to take on theory, especially if we've got one teammate down" he looked at Swift who was still trying and failing to orient herself.

"I'll be fine…" she coughed, rubbing her temples. "The pain's still there, but it's only broken a couple of ribs this time. And that I can live with."

She stood up grinning, but Robin was still looking grave.

"Fine…Do it…go…but  _you_ " he pointed at his partner "stay with Roy. Long distance fighting only" He looked up at Red Arrow, and the two exchanged a silent nod.

The older Archer grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away silently up the stairs towards the small balcony that overlooked the room.

"You clear a path. I'll shoot" Red muttered prepping a trick arrow to his bow.

"Yeah…Just like old times" Swift gasped as she was settled down in a sitting position. She blinked hard and pulled out an exploding birdarang. "I've got a target. Sixty-five degrees down. Wait for my count."

There were a few thumps from below as Miss Martian floored Parasite with a well-timed sweeping kick from low.

"Go!" Swift ordered, and she flung the exploding birdarang down. Parasite winced, his defences slipping as he lowered his arms for a moment. There was a loud twang as Red Arrow delivered the shot, in line with the gap she'd made for it.

As soon as it made contact with its target the arrowhead burst and a high density dark red polyurethane foam began to cover and harden up around him.

"Foam!" Parasite growled enraged. "You think foam can hold me?!"

Suddenly Red Arrow grunted as he was blown over by an invisible force to the side, his bow dropping from his hands to the floor below.

"Or stop me from crushing you with a thought?"

"Get your filthy paws off of him!" Swift peeked out from her hiding spot and threw another exploding birdarang at their opponent. Parasite merely laughed as his eyes glowed red and two strands of heat vision pierced through the small projectile causing it to drop to the floor with a little metallic  _ting!_

"HA HA! That was cute girly. Rreal cute, but combined Martian and Kryptonian powers here!" Swift squeaked as she hit the deck to avoid the rest of the heat rays that pierced through the wall.

"But do any of those powers free you before I sabotage your death thingy?" Robin's voice said calmly.

_Death Thingy? Robin seriously that is lame even by your standards_

Despite her slight disorientation Swift couldn't help but roll her eyes as Parasite broke free of the foam around him.

"Maybe not…but this does" he fired another blast of heat vision that Robin barely managed to dodge in time. There was another sharp twang in the air as Artemis leapt from the shadows and fired from her crossbow.

She too had to dodge Parasite's heat vision before she shot again, this time using a trick arrow which released a gaseous substance right in front of him.

Swift gritted her teeth and forced down the pain as she gave a large puff of her super breath and directed the wind so that it pushed the gas into the line of heat from his eyes.

**_BOOM!_ **

The gas blew up around Parasite sending a massive shockwave of fire and metal around. But Swift pulled up her mechanical wings just in time to protect herself. The heat of the explosion was such that half of its thickness quickly melted away half drenching her in the process.

There was a loud thud as Roy fell to the ground close to a stirring Artemis, the telekinetic hold gone from his body.

"So clever."

Swift gasped as she saw Parasite get up from his knees to stand amidst a ring of fire.

"Tricked me into igniting the flammable gas, but you forgot. Doofus's double doses of…invulnerability…Fire…cannot touch me-ah!" he grunted his body suddenly beginning to shudder with strange fatigue.

"Unless you want to make a meal of my powers, then get my weaknesses as a  _side_   _dish_!" If Swift could ever remember a time she'd seen M'gann looking so pissed off, she could not do so right now.

"No…No-ahgh!"

The Martian smirked as she watched Parasite fall to the ground with fatigue. "Aww, poor Baby…something you _ate_?"

Swift gave a breathless laugh as she watched the Boson Collider power down as Robin took to its controls.

"We'll take it from here" came a familiar voice. Swift looked down through blurred eyes and saw the silver-topped head of Faraday as he led his Interpol men towards the fire.

"Took you guys long enough" She sighed in relief as the high keening pitch in her ear died out. She sighed in relief as the pain that wracked her body suddenly drained out of her, leaving her to feel all weak and wobbly.

She watched through blurring eyes as the guys from Interpol extinguished the fire and put an inhibitor collar on Parasite's neck.

"Thank's for the tip by the way" Faraday smiled at Robin "It always helps to prep the inhibitor collar in advance."

"Glad to be of service" Robin smiled weakly before calling back up to the railing.

"Hey, Swift! How you are doing up there?"

"I'm Fine Rob. Just Fine-agh!" she winced as her sides tinged with pain "Uh…I could use some help getting down though"

Now Robin did smile as he quickly ran up the stairs towards her.

"How are you feeling now?" He muttered as he picked her up bridal style, her legs were too wobbly to hold her up.

"A hell of a lot better…now that the collider's off" she grunted rubbing at her forehead before sighing.

"I need a bath."

Robin cackled softly under his breath. Trust her to say something like that while injured. He carried her over to where Artemis was holding out a hand to help up Red Arrow who took it with a smile.

"Wow. He dares to touch the hand of a suspected traitor" the blonde smirked.

"Mind open…I guess I never really saw you three in the thick of it before." Red smiled widely. "Superboy's a hot head, but I know I'm not one to talk. You could each have betrayed us here, but you didn't. I'm sorry I doubted any of you. There is no mole."

Swift and Robin both smiled at each other delightedly.

Well, thank god that argument was over.

* * *

**_Wayne Manor, December 25 2010, 10:18 EDT_ **

"Come on Christine! Let's go open the presents!"

Christine shook her head fondly as Dick gently dragged her downstairs to the large lounge where the Christmas tree was lit and surrounded by stacks of presents. They'd both just gotten out of bed and had barely brushed their teeth when Alfred had called them through their coms to come downstairs for the gifts.

_Speaking of which,_

"Dick hold on a sec" Christine stopped mid-step as she heard her phone ring in her pocket.

"Seriously? But we've got presents waiting!" Dick whined as she pulled out the device.

"They can wait a few seconds more." She rolled her eyes as she checked the caller ID.

Her partner's lips curled into a wicked smirk as he caught sight of the blush spreading over her cheeks. "Let me guess it's lover boy isn't it?"

"Shut up! I'll meet you downstairs!" she snapped before accepting the call.

"H-Hi Kaldur." She stuttered turning her back on Dick who was starting to make kissy faces at her.

"Christine? Is everything alright?" Kaldur sounded concerned, and she quickly gulped down hard.

"Oh yeah, yeah all good, just gimme a second-Dick would you cut that out" she hissed the last bit at Dick who sniggered as he crept up to her and a started poking her hard in her sides.

"Ow! Dick, stop that!" She quickly pushed him out of the way rolling her eyes as she held the phone up to her ear.

"Sorry Kal, having troubles escaping my partner. Dude seriously?" She hissed at Dick who had now torn off a random sprig of mistletoe from one of the Christmas decorations and held it above her and the phone.

"If you wish I could call you at a more convenient time when your foster brother is in a less playful mood" Kaldur offered, though she could hear the smile in his voice.

"No-no it's okay, I'll leave you two alone," Dick shouted flinging up both his hands in surrender, though the smirk never left his face. "Have a nice chat Kaldur, remember to keep it PG. That means no dirty talk or hanky-panky phone sex, or any other strange kinky stuff like that. Otherwise, have a Merry Christmas, and we'll see you at the cave this afternoon,  ** _Lots of Lo~ve! BYE!_** "

"DICK!" Christine roared, her face now a deep shade of crimson as her partner quickly dashed down the hallway out of sight.

"Damn you Wonder Boy. I am so sorry about that Kal" she groaned pinching her nose. "Sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop!"

"It's alright. I think I'm starting to get used to his oddities" Kaldur smirked on his end "Though on that note I believe I should wish you a Merry Christmas."

"Thanks, and a Merry Christmas to you too," Christine grunted.

"You're not fond of the holiday?" Kaldur asked in confusion.

"What? No-no I like the holiday well enough, or at least I would if my partner was less noisy when I woke up." She grumbled, and Kaldur chuckled.

"I take it he's excited to open his gifts. And speaking of gifts, M'gann is dying to open hers. She cannot wait till you two, Artemis and Wally all come to the cave this afternoon. Even Conner seems excited though he seems a bit confused why some of the gifts are labelled 'from Santa'"

"Aww really! That's so cute."

"Yes, but who is this  _Santa_? I keep hearing Zatanna talk about this Santa but I still don't understand what he is." she could almost see the confused pout grace her boyfriends face and she chuckled.

"Santa's another name for Saint Nickolas. A legend from Christian culture which gives out gifts to well-behaved children at Christmas."

"Ah, so he's a mythical being. I see. That makes sense." Kaldur sighed in relief. "Thank Neptune. For a moment I thought we had an infiltrator in the Cave."

"Oh god that would be a nightmare" Christine snorted, and they both chuckled just as a loud voice called up from downstairs.

"CHRIS HURRY UP WE HAVN'T GOT ALL DAY! THESE PRESENTS AREN'T GOING TO OPEN THEMSELVES!"

"Coming Dick!" Christine sighed.

"I suppose I should leave you and your family to your celebrations. I'll see you this afternoon."

"Yeah, see you…"

But they didn't hang up on one another. Instead, there was a very deafening silence as they listened to one another breathing.

Christine's heart was hammering so hard in her chest that she was sure Kaldur could hear it on the other end.

Unbidden, Conner's words from the train floated into her brain.

_"_ _But what's the matter with that? If you do love him, why should you be so embarrassed to admit it out loud?"_

_But do I love him?_

She bit her lip as she listened to his breaths. He was kind, sweet, thoughtful and yet beneath all that he was also very passionate, calculating and shrewd. Sometimes he could be aloof and distant, yet she knew she could not talk for she was the same sometimes. But no matter what everyone else said about him there was one thing she could not deny; she was happy being with him.

_Oh, who am I kidding? Conner's right I do love him._

But did he love her back? Or was he just infatuated with her because she was the first surface world girl he'd been in a relationship with?

 _But what if I'm not?_  She thought, and her stomach lurched.

Kaldur was two years older than her, and he'd been Aqualad for two years. And while he'd not lived on land as extensively as he'd done in the last few months, he must've had some relationships, however brief with other girls from the surface.

The thought made her torn between wanting to throw up or punch a wall.

But maybe M'gann is right; a small voice piped up in her head. After all, the martian girl could read all their minds after all and could feel their emotions. Maybe she was right about Kaldur.

There was only one way to find out.

"Kaldur" Christine bit her lip, marvelling at how long Kaldur had waited on the line.

"Yes?" he answered his voice quiet and unsure.

She gulped as she steeled herself. This was it. Now or never.

"I'll-I…Merry Christmas."

There was a small pause, and then a sigh.

"Merry Christmas to you too Christine."

They both hung up at the same time.

"Coward" Christine sighed heavily smacking her forehead as she slowly trudged her way down the manor stairs.

_You're not afraid to fight bad guys daily yet you're too chicken to tell a guy you love him? Some hero you are Christine._

Meanwhile, outside a nearby window, a shadow slipped away with narrowed eyes.

Bruce, Dick and Alfred were already there waiting for her in the lounge, all of them still in their pyjama's, which was odd seeing as the old butler usually preferred to wear his suit by this time in the morning.

But then again, Christmas was Christmas…even in the Batman's household!

"So which ones are from the Santa in the red suit and which ones are from the Santa in the bat suit?" Christine forced a grin as she knelt in front of the roaring fire.

"I'm afraid you'll have to guess this time Miss Christine. Your father has decided to be very sneaky about this year's presents" Alfred said as he poured a cup of coffee for Bruce before pouring one for himself.

"Hey Dick, you ready to open your presents?" Bruce turned to Dick who was smirking widely at his partner.

"So, did you do it?"

"Do what?" Christine rolled her eyes though she already had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.

"Tell Kaldur you love him?"

Dick's sniggers turned into loud cackles as the Dark Knight, and his butler both choked and hacked on their coffee in shock.

"You what?!" Bruce could not believe he'd just heard.

"You haven't heard?" Dick grinned as his partner groaned into her hand.

"Dick please not now."

"Oh, come on they have to hear this-"

"I said no Dick!" she growled clamping her hand over his mouth "Besides I didn't tell him."

"What?" Dick deflated, wrenching her hand off his face "You didn't? but I thought you were gonna-"

"No. I-I mean I was but…I…" Christine mumbled turning to face the Christmas tree, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "listen can we just-just open the presents okay?"

Behind her back, Bruce gave a silent sigh of relief.

It wasn't as if he disapproved of her relationship. Being with the Atlantean made her very happy. However, she was still his little girl and selfishly he was hoping she'd stay that way for a little bit longer.

Unfortunately for the Dark Knight, fate had a way of ignoring his wishes.

He watched happily as his two wards tore through the giant stack of presents at the foot of the tree.

Bruce had received his usual hampers of expensive gifts from the rest of the Gotham Elite; however he particularly enjoyed his partner's present of a rather horrendously printed, but still somewhat comfortable Christmas sweater with matching socks and a red Santa hat, which he was quick to put on. Contrary to what the Justice League believed, the Dark Knight did have a sense of humour which he kept reserved for only a precious few to see.

Dick had gotten several video games, a few funny T-shirts and some vintage circus memorabilia. Christine, of course, had acquired the usual dance/ballet themed gifts (including an actual Nutcracker doll from Martin, which Dick found hilarious), and a lot of books.

She was flipping through a couple of these when Dick suddenly called out:

"Hey look! There's another three here for you Chris!"

Christine turned to take the gifts.

One of them was from her grandfather. It was a long slim fitted evening dress with a low back, spaghetti straps and silver feathers embroidered over waist and bodice. It was gorgeous, and she usually would've gushed over it had she not seen the silvered feathered owl shaped masquerade mask that went with it.

"Cool!" Dick held up the mask in front of his face, ignoring the stricken look on his partners face.

"Indeed, may I?" Bruce took the mask and inspected it.

Christine's gut plummeted when he held it up to his face to look through the eyeholes.

_"_ _One day you'll be the strongest Talon, and nothing anyone can do will stop it-"_

But her dark thoughts were interrupted as Alfred swooped to the rescue and snatched the mask away to hand it back to the Girl Wonder.

"Quite lovely young miss. Perhaps You can wear it at the New Years Gala!" the old butler smiled as he tucked it all away back in the box.

"Aha! I knew it! This one's from Kaldur!" Dick cried out as he held up her next present which was round and the size and shape of a magic eight ball.

"It's from…Kaldur?" Christine frowned "But I thought we'd be gift giving with the team today at the cave."

"It came a few days ago while you and the young master were in Europe performing Mister Haly, young mister Kaldur'ahm dropped in to deliver this personally" Alfred smirked, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Said he brought it especially from Atlantis to give to you."

"Go on open it." Dick rolled his eyes at Christine as she gingerly took the present which had been wrapped very nicely in a velvety dark turquoise pouch.

"Oh wow," she gasped as she pulled out a small globe. It appeared to be made of some clear resin like substance in which a brilliantly purple sea anemone sat in suspended animation, surrounded by little bits of shimmering rocks and pale coral.

"There's a note," Bruce muttered quickly snatching at the small card attached to the pouch strings.

"Dear Christine, since you could not be here with me under the ocean, I thought I'd bring the ocean to you. It was the prettiest sea-flower I could find in Shayeris, though nothing could compare to you both above or below the waves. Wishing you a Merry Christmas. Love Kaldur" The Dark Knight read aloud, and though he tried to scowl protectively, he couldn't entirely stop the small smirk creeping up his face.

He couldn't help it; he'd never seen his goddaughter go so red in the face!

"COME ON!" Dick flung his arms up in exasperation. "Now you have to tell him you love him. The guy got you freaking flowers from under the sea! If that doesn't spell out I love you; then I don't know what does!"

"Dick is right; you should tell him how you feel" Bruce murmured. "It's obvious he cares just as much about you as you do him."

Christine looked up at her godfather in surprise. Ever since she and Kaldur had started dating, he'd backed off a little though there were times he was still wary of the Atlantean boy.

For Bruce to acknowledge her feelings and support her in something like this...

She stood up and pulled her godfather into a tight hug.

"Thank you" Christine whispered. "Thank you so much, Dad! You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that."

Bruce smiled and kissed the top of her head. Who was he kidding? She'd never stop being his little girl, not really.

"Well it's not exactly as if I have much choice in the matter" he snorted as they pulled apart. "If being with him makes you happy then I'm happy."

There was a small sniff, and they all turned to see Alfred quickly dabbing at one of his eyes and his moustache bristling.

"Forgive me, Master Bruce." The old butler mumbled, his voice oddly choked up "I Just have something in my eye."

Dick rolled his eyes, with a tender, fond smirk. Alfred may have tried to maintain the poise and stiff upper lip of the English gentleman, but he was a big softie at heart.

"Come on, you've got one more present to open!" the boy wonder held out a large black package with a red ribbon tied.

Unlike the other two, it only had her name written on a small tag.

"Hmm, I wonder who it's from?" Christine frowned as she carefully undid the ribbon.

With careful fingers, she opened the black lid of the box only to shriek in fright as she dropped the box.

Bruce quickly leapt forward to catch it, Alfred clapping a hand over his mouth in shock as he caught sight of the contents.

"Upon my word…"

"Alfred what-holy crap!" Dick leapt away from the two men with wide eyes.

_Holy Crap is right._

Bruce glared down angrily into the box.

Lying inside it, on top of a bloodstained A4 print of a Flying Grayson's poster was a small dead brown bird with a red crest, next to a black pawn chess piece, wrapped in a little scrap of paper.

On it, three words were scrawled in blood red ink.

_"_ _Remember or else."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it, Episode 24.
> 
> A lot of stuff happened in this chapter. It was fun giving Swift a new set of weaknesses. I was doing some reading and came across the fact that birds are sensitive to the earth's magnetic field and figured that HEY since Swift is part bird she might also be that way too. Christine's coming to terms with the depths of her feelings, and so is the rest of her family. However, will that be enough to help her against the new threat?
> 
> You'll have to read and review to find out later ;)
> 
> Till next time my lovelies,
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Fuzzybeta


	25. Usual Suspects

**Episode 25: Usual Suspects**

_**Hall of Justice (Washington D.C.), December 30 2010, 09:16 EST** _

" _The Justice League was formed for two reasons. First as an acknowledgement that no single individual, no matter how powerful, can stand alone. And second, to uphold the values of Truth, Liberty and Justice. That last one's even in the name._ "

A lot of the press tittered in amusement as Superman gave them a sheepish but charismatic smile before gesturing to his left where five heroes, Doctor Fate, Plastic Man, Icon, Atom and last but not least a familiar auburn-haired archer with a red and black suit with black domino mask, stood in a line waiting patiently.

" _These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values_."

" _You are watching live coverage of the Justice League's induction of its five newest members. It looks like the entire league has shown up to welcome the new blood. Everyone from Batman to Captain Marvel_ " Cat Grant hissed with excitement on the giant screen in the Hall of Justice's Library, where all the Team was currently standing by and watching eagerly.

"I'm glad they didn't kick Billy out" Wally chomped into his apple as the cameraman panned across members of the league to rest on the waving form of Captain Marvel "And I love the fact that there's a ten-year-old on the League."

"There is?"

_Trust Wally to open his big mouth!_

Christine sighed as the speaker, Raquel Ervin aka Rocket the protégé of Icon, an older teenage girl with, dark skin and short spiky black hair, stepped forward with her hands on her hips.

"Way to keep a secret genius!" Dick elbowed his best friend with irritation.

"Hey, she's on the team now right?! Pff…short arse! OWW! Swift! Your brother's hitting me!" the speedster whined as Dick made to punch his shoulder.

"Knock it off you two. Man, if I've said it once I've said it a hundred times. Kaldur you deal with them from now on!" Christine groaned as she pulled Dick away from Wally, holding his hands so that he couldn't use them to hit.

"I would" Kaldur smirked softly so as not to interrupt the broadcast "but I'm afraid my methods wouldn't be nearly as effective as yours."

"Sly bastard." Christine glared at him, and he smirked back with amusement.

" _Superman is now handing out official League Membership cards starting with Dr Fate,-_ "

Zatanna looked downcast as Artemis put a hand on her shoulder consolingly.

"- _The Atom, Plastic Man and Icon_ "

"Y'know I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be outside celebrating with him not cooped up in  _here_ " Raquel pouted sassily.

"Welcome to our world" Kaldur smiled back at her.

"Well, I suppose there's an upside too" Raquel's suddenly smiled as she looked at the Atlantian boy up and down with appreciation.

 _Oh no, you don't!_ Christine scowled, detaching herself quickly from Dick and Wally to loop her arms possessively around her boyfriend's waist.

"Someone's jealous" Kaldur smirked down on her in amusement, as beside them Raquel deflated a little.

"You're not the only one who can get protective y'know" Christine mumbled shyly as he leaned down to give her a soft kiss.

Despite the awkward phone call from a week or so ago, Christine and Kaldur's relationship was as strong as ever. Indeed the two of them were completely and utterly relaxed as the girl wonder turned in her boyfriend's arms to watch the screen, giggling as he pecked the back of her ear affectionately.

"Yeash! Get a room you two!" Dick shook his head smirking as his surrogate sister poked her tongue out at him only to stop as they watched Green Arrow take a membership card from Superman and walk over to Red Arrow who was last in line.

" _Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protégé, Speedy, now known as Red Arrow, to this roster of Heroes_."

"WOOHOO!" Christine whooped loudly.

"Way to go Roy!" Wally cheered along with her.

"At last he has his wish" Kaldur smiled, resting his chin on top of his girlfriend's head as held her tightly around the waist from behind

"The first of us to make it. No one's gonna call him a sidekick anymore" Dick looked down at Christine who was positively glowing with warmth and pride.

"Wait!" Raquel interrupted them with a frown "Since when has being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration. Especially  _you_."

She pointed at Christine, seemingly over her failed attempt with Kaldur.

"M-Me?" the Girl Wonder blushed a bright pink much to the other's amusement.

"Yeah! I was so stoked when you first came on the news with Batman. I mean, there are only three women in the Justice League, and you were the first female sidekick EVER! It was awesome."

"Uh…thanks…I guess."

Christine smiled and scratched the back of her head nervously.

"So, what happened to make you guys, not like the whole sidekick thing?" Raquel raised her eyebrows.

"…well you see uh…six months ago- Kal, Wally, Rob and I were-"

But there were suddenly two separate beeping sounds.

"Sorry. Just one sec?"

Christine pulled out her cell phone just as Dick pulled up his holo-computer. She quickly stepped away from Kaldur.

She frowned as she saw a text message warning with a blocked number attached and clicked on it. To her disgust, it was a continuation of her conversation from before her Nutcracker performance.

_Sorry for the late notice, but there has been a change of plans for our little date. Due to circumstances beyond my control, we will have to meet today instead of tomorrow. Same time, the same place. Don't be late._

She texted back quickly trying to keep her anger at bay.

_I won't be. Where are we going?_

She waited with bated breath, feeling her skin crawl unpleasantly as if spiders had scuttled beneath it and were using her bones as ladders to climb. She shuddered at the mental image as the phone buzzed again with her reply.

_Santa Prisca. Should be nostalgic._

She narrowed her eyes darkly and shut the phone with such a hard snap that several of her friends jumped.

"What happened to you?" Wally raised an eyebrow still munching on an apple.

"Nothing" Christine grunted grumpily as she shoved her phone back in the pocket of her light blue jeans. "Just some information on a case."

"You don't sound so happy about it" Kaldur frowned concernedly putting a hand on her shoulder, and she sighed.

"Yeah well, it's not exactly good news" she exchanged a significant look with Dick who was also looking grimly at his holo-computer.

They hadn't yet told the team about the death threat sent on Christmas day, and Christine hadn't even told her partner about the meeting she was supposed to be going to at Santa Prisca. She was grateful for Wally's intervention as he leaned over the Boy Wonder's shoulder.

"What about you Rob? Anything new?" the speedster asked through a mouthful of apple.

"Cheshire's on the move again" Dick muttered.

There was a clatter as Artemis stood up wide-eyed. Her chair had fallen to the floor.

* * *

_**Smokey Mountains, December 30th 2010, 10:48 EST** _

"A-Are you sure it's her? I mean, are you positive" Artemis tried to gulp down her stutters, but Swift was not buying it. She glanced at Robin in front of her who raised his eyebrows in return.

"See for yourself" he pulled up several holo-screens on the bioship's main window. "This is security footage from the Ashville regional airport. "Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But…you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?"

Swift's eyes narrowed. She'd never seen Cheshire up close before but even, so she could tell there was no doubt about the fact that she and Artemis were related.

"It's Jade…Cheshire"

"Agreed" Aqualad looked at Artemis sternly. "But focus on what she carries. Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away."

"Yes," Artemis's face turned downcast.

"Wait! Hold up what do you mean by got away?" Swift asked sharply.

"It's… a long story" Artemis looked down at her feet embarrassed. Swift caught a glimpse of just beyond the archer where Kid Flash was glowering angrily.

Odd. The two of them had just started to get along recently. What had happened?

"Ok, I'm guessing from this mug shot that this  _Cheshire_  is the bad guy. But what's so important about that case?" Rocket folded her arms frowning.

"Remember the Injustice League?" Robin frowned as he pulled up a picture of the supervillain group.

"And their giant evil plants? Uh Yeah!"

"The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme" Aqualad's face hardened as he looked over each enemy "And whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans."

"We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans, but  _someone_ " Kid Flash gritted his teeth as he looked at Artemis "Screwed up."

_Great, and we're back to square one again!_

Swift puffed a strand of hair out of her eyes in exasperation before calling back to the helm.

"M'gann how far are we now?"

"We're approaching Cheshire's jet now."

But then she gasped…as did everyone else.

They'd flown over a vast gorge, covered in snow with the massive metal carnage of a plane in the centre.

"Looks like there were no survivors" Miss Martian muttered.

"Nonetheless we should still search the wreckage and salvage what we can" Aqualad turned to Swift who nodded.

Her eyes softened as Artemis shut her eyes tight and seemed to grit her teeth to hold back her words. If her suspicions were right, then the poor archer was probably going through a lot more pain than she was letting on.

They hovered above the wreck and jumped down through the floor of the Bioship on their lines.

There was a lot of snow on the plane's main hull, so Swift used her super breath to remove it quickly. Once she did everyone began looking through as much as they could find.

Eventually, Robin found the black box and carried it outside to examine it.

"How come homeland security or the NTSB aren't all over this?" Kid Flash asked as he helped Swift carry a torn-up seat out of the way to see the circuitry inside the plane wall.

"Cheshire's ID was a League alert. Authorities didn't pick it up, and her jet didn't follow its flight plan" Robin replied as he set down the box in the snow.

"So, it flew under the radar, like  _literally_  ?" Swift walked over to check his work.

"Yeah. But the Watchtower auto-tracked the jet and recorded the crash."

"So why isn't the league here?" Rocket asked.

"Because our Boy and Girl Wonder's both have some pretty mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first" Zatanna smirked at the two birds.

Robin gave them all a wink while Swift shrugged in a half-hearted attempt at modesty.

"And because Cheshire and that case, represent our unfinished business" Aqualad added his tone still dangerous.

"There's just one thing that's still bothering me," Swift muttered as she watched Superboy throw a metal scrap of the wing out of the way.

"Where are the bodies?" he finished for her, and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"Here's one!" came an unfamiliar feminine drawl. The team looked up alarmed as the green-clad, masked Cheshire smiled down at them. "And it is  _stunning_."

Swift felt the air around her nudge her side and stiffened. Someone else was here too. Someone from hers, Robin's and Batman's neck of the woods, she just knew it from the way the hairs on the back of her neck were prickling.

"I am Flora, not fauna. I am foliage. Not trees."

"Edward Nygma," Swift growled as she turned to look up at the slender green suited man. He was flanked by Kobra's minion mammoth and many henchmen in snow stealth gear and bearing the red glowing Apokolyptan weapons, just like the Bialyan soldiers had worn in Qurac.

"What am I?" the Riddler clicked his fingers. At once a ring of metal pylons shot up from the earth on the cliff around them, crackling with green energy as it encased them all in a glowing green barrier.

"Dammit" Swift narrowed her eyes at the barrier. They were cut off from the bioship.

"Come on; you can get this." The Riddler sneered down on her and Robin sardonically "I am Shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I-"

"Ambush" Robin gritted his teeth.

Swift blinked hard and gripped her hands in fists as Riddler spoke again.

"Didn't you think we'd guess you were on Cheshire's trail? We're tired of your interference kiddies. This is the endgame, ordered from above and executed by their master strategist moi!"

 _Miss Martian is everyone linked?_  Aqualad asked through the mental link

_Yes_

She replied.

_Then go_

They all smirked and split apart at once. Rocket and Miss Martian all took to the air at once circling.

_Zee,_

Swift called across the link to the magician as she dodged an attack.

 _Yeah_?

_I could use some winds._

_On it!_

"Ekahs siht ebolgwons!" Zatanna smirked as at once the wind whipped up around them, sending snow flying everywhere.

_Thanks_

Swift grinned extending her mechanical wings.

She caught a gust and swooped up past Miss Martian. She spotted a goon aiming his red energy blaster at Robin who was climbing up the cliff. Swift sharply jabbed her arm forwards in a straight finger strike, and a small birdarang flew from her grip and lodged itself in the barrel of the weapon, causing it to backfire upon itself.

 _Thanks, Swift!_  Her partner grinned before flinging his birdarang in her direction. Swift didn't flinch as it passed her ear and hit a leaping goon, before exploding in a cloud of knock out gas.

With a deft backflip, Swift used her legs to wrap around a goon's throat, pick him up into the air, spin him and throw him back down to earth into a batch of other goons.

 _Damn! Nice shot_  Dick smirked as he took down two goons with a sweeping side-kick.

_Thanks, Robby, but we'll have to celebrate later. Rocket, I could use some cover over here._

_Sure!_

Rocket sounded excited as she hovered around Swift blocking attacks sent her way as the girl wonder sucked in the deepest breath she ever took in her whole life.

_Everyone get out of my way in ten seconds. This is gonna be rough!_

She called loudly as she held her breath for two seconds and then blew out.

A torrent of wind smashed into the sides of the gorge, dislodging nearly all the snow and causing it to fall in droves on their opponents below.

_KID!_

She called rolling her eyes as she saw Kid Flash still fighting a goon on the slope she was aiming at. He rolled his eyes back at her as he felt her irritation through the link

_Alright! Alright! GAH! What the-_

_JUST MOVE WALLY! Before I blow you off the edge too!_

She puffed out another vast super breath. Kid Flash barely made it off the slope in time as the blast of air burst forth from her and caused a small mudslide to crash down from on high.

"Holy f***ing Christ!"

Kid cried out in alarm as the goons on the slope dropped down like flies.

But Swift didn't have time to tell him off for his bad mouth because something dark and heavy had just streaked past her. She turned around and felt her breath catch in her chest.

_SB you're…you're flying_

Robin gasped.

But the super clone didn't listen. Instead, he threw Mammoth up so that he hit the dome before crashing down, right over Swift's trajectory.

She squeaked in fright as she Superboy's face twist in an animalistic snarl before shooting out red heat rays out from his eyes.

"SWIFT!"

She heard Aqualad yell in a panic as she dodged the attack, but it was a  _very_  close shave. She winced as one of the scorching rays brushed past her cheek; grazing it slightly and sending tiny dark red beads of blood spattering a little over her face.

"SUPERBOY!" she called out.

But Superboy took no heed and continued pushing his opponent till he was shoved into the rocky wall, where he proceeded to pummel the shit out of him.

Swift flew over and tried to grab Superboy from under the armpits with her legs as she flapped her wings as hard as she could.

"Conner wait-Conner stop it! He's had enough! CONNER-ah!" one of his arms flailed out and hit her sending her flying back into the air. She forced herself to a stop and heard a loud crunching and groaning.

Looking up she saw to her horror, the cliff wall above Superboy and Mammoth begin to give way.

She blew out a super breath again, using it to push the flow of snow and rock to the side where it wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Come on" She grunted as she stopped to puff for breath, before trying again.

For a moment she thought she'd fail, but that only seemed to piss her off more. Swift didn't like failure. Her new found pride seemed to do the trick, and she gave another puff, shifting some of the snow away in time for Zatanna, Kid Flash and Aqualad to run to a safer spot.

But the damage was done. The rock's slide had dislodged a lot of snow which was already almost at the bottom by the time she'd finished securing the top.

She saw a familiar green and blonde blur fall down several feet into the earth below and began to fly down to help but-

"Artemis!"

Swift's jaw dropped as Cheshire dropped both her swords and dove straight for Artemis, bowling her out of the way of the mini avalanche.

Artemis seemed to look very confused as she and Cheshire sat up, the latter sighing in exasperation.

"Ok Fine we're sisters. I don't actually want you dead."

 _Well, that explains a lot_!

Swift sighed with relief as she flew off, not noticing Artemis was staring up at her in alarm.

She flew over around the battlefield, helping where she could, though she usually ended up working combo moves with either Robin or Aqualad who had finally taken out his water bearers.

_Hey Kal, I think Rob and Zee have got Riddler!_

She replied calmly as she mowed down a couple of goons with her wind strikes.

_Yes, they do. I can see them._

He nodded as he whipped down one last henchman. The rest were unconscious on the ground around them.

They both relaxed as they heard Zatanna's faint echoing voice as she removed her blizzard spell from the area.

_Aqualad! Swift! I got the case!_

Artemis called running over to them and waving a large metal suitcase in her arms.

 _And we got Riddler up here_!

Robin panted. Swift could see his smug little smirk plastered over his face.

"So…" Swift smirked as she and her Team leader walked hand in hand over to the archer. "Now what? Do we go back to the cave?"

"Yes, we do." Aqualad agreed with a tired smile, but it faltered as he looked on her face.

"What?" Swift blushed a little unperturbed by the shocked light green eyes staring at her in alarm.

"You're hurt" he swept a hand to her face worriedly.

"Kal what the- oh…" she gulped as his thumb became smeared with dark red.

She touched her hand to her cheek where she felt the long scratch that extended from beneath her eye all the way to her temple just below her hairline.

It was the same place that she'd felt a ray of heat almost hit her during the fight, the one that had been made by Superboy.

No…that couldn't be right. Superboy didn't have heat vision; they knew that for a fact. And yet she'd just seen him use it; she'd also seen him fly!

Unbidden, the memory of Bruges and Geneva, wafted over her mind.

Conner, lunging blindly at Parasite. Conner's powers, recharging abnormally faster than anyone else's. Conner neglecting M'gann's wellbeing during the fire. Conner sticking something to his skin before jumping down to the ground.

_Just what is going on?_

* * *

_**Mount Justice, December 30 2010, 15:45 EST** _

Swift rubbed her freshly patched up cheek as she checked the clock on the holographic screen in the corner of the cave hall. Only an hour to go till she had to be at the airport, an hour till she had to meet her fate.

But it seemed now that Fate would have to take a hike. Because Batman was standing in front of her and the Team with Black Canary, Icon and Red Tornado, looking rather pissed off.

"Tell me if this sounds familiar" he growled "You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol and endangered your lives. And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reeve as a cover for criminal activity. …Well done"

Swift and Robin both looked at each other in delighted surprise as Batman gave what was unmistakably an approving smirk, that was as plain as day to see for all. Though it was discarded as he walked towards the recovered metal case, in which were a multitude of little red…things.

"And then there's this." His eyes narrowed suspiciously "bio-technology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry."

"Though I am unfamiliar with this species" Icon added picking up one of the tiny objects gingerly in his hands "its Bio component is clearly not of Earth."

"We'll take it to the Watchtower for further study" Batman nodded gravely.

There was a strangely tense pause in which Swift and the others watched Rocket greet and congratulate her mentor as he left with the other Justice Leaguers, who were having an inauguration party up at the Watchtower.

Once the last of the yellow light had vanished, Robin folded his arms.

"You realise we were set up" he muttered darkly.

"Yes," Aqualad agreed gripping Swift's hand tighter in his. "Cheshire and Riddler were… _tipped_  and ready for us."

"Oh great not the mole thing again!" Artemis facepalmed.

"Mole thing?" Rocket asked worriedly "Again?"

"We had intel that there was a traitor on the team" Kid Flash explained grimly.

"Namely Artemis, M'gann or me" Superboy growled.

"Conner it's more…complicated than that" Swift tried to put a consoling hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off gruffly, glaring down at her. Aqualad stepped in-between them to intervene before both Superboy's, and Swift's furies could both erupt.

"That being said your recent behaviour is of great concern. Your attack on Mammoth nearly got both Swift and Artemis killed."

But Superboy was already walking away. Swift rolled her eyes and began counting down the seconds under her breath, prepping herself to see him ditch his com and storm off like he usually did when pissed off.

But then he suddenly winced and held onto his ear.

"Superboy?" Aqualad asked as the clone straightened up, his face a lot calmer, even resolved.

"There's something I need to do"

* * *

_**Santa Prisca, December 30 2010, 17:23 ECT** _

To say that Swift was feeling uncomfortable at this moment in time would be a laughable euphemism.

She was sitting next to Ishan on her mother's private plane. Both were alone, apart from the pilot and co-pilot who were sealed off in the cockpit.

"How are you doing?" Ishan grunted beneath his mask.

"Alright," she mumbled, folding her arms.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" he looked at her.

"Yes, I'm sure" Swift clipped.

Another awkward silence.

_Great, my best friend who I thought is dead is sitting beside me and I have no idea what to say to him._

Swift rolled her eyes to herself before glancing over at Ishan.

He was wearing the Red Knight suit, his visor down over his eyes, yet she could see through the red lenses that he too was anxious as the plane hit the landing strip.

Swift herself, was half hoping that it would crash chaotically so that she would have an excuse to talk to him. She had so many questions for him, like how did he become a Talon? How did he survive that explosion two years ago? But her prayers went unanswered as the plane touched down smoothly before slowing down to a stop.

She unbuckled her belt around her waist and stood up quickly to rush over to the closed plane door. She groped for the handle only to have Ishan's large hand grab her wrist.

"Wait" he ordered sternly and pushed her aside to open the door.

She waited by the door for a few moments until she was sure the stairs were locked on in place and followed his lead down the steps.

The wind whipped past her face, and she shivered as she descended the stairs walking towards a dark open top four-wheel drive in which a blonde haired woman was sitting in a stylish black jumpsuit with a low neckline, a long red trench coat, red lipstick and chequered mask around her eyes.

"Ah, my welcome my dear" Red Queen sneered as Ishan opened the car door and Swift stepped up into it.

_Great! Just what I need! An awkward car ride with mother dearest._

Swift rolled her eyes as she folded her arms and legs tight around her as Ishan drove the car away from the landing strip.

Red Queen eyed her daughter with cold eyes. The girl's power was stronger than the last time they'd met already, she could feel it. In the way, the girl picked her sharp nails that were straining against the already robust material of her suit.

_It seems Old Hallows Senior has decided to speed things up a notch!_

Her red lips tightened into a thin line.

Ten minutes later the car ground to a stop in front of a large clearing.

"Mam we've arrived" Ishan called back.

Both mother and daughter jumped a little. It seemed he'd startled them both out of their thoughts; Ishan smirked as he saw the two of them fix him with almost identically matching glares as he helped them in turn out of the car.

"Ah! Good, you both have arrived" a deep voice drawled.

Swift looked up and felt her gut drop to her feet.

Lex Luthor, the Lex Luthor, was walking over towards them in his sharp black suit smirking with triumph with an exotic dark-skinned beauty.

"Queen Bee you look well" Red Queen smiled coldly as she and the older woman exchanged a brief hug and a kiss on both cheeks.

"As do you Red Queen. Ah! Now, what have we here?" The Biaylian queen looked over Swift who stiffened uncomfortably. Red Queen smirked.

"Oh, You're majesty allow me to introduce my daughter. Swift"

"Daughter?" Queen Bee's eyes widened with shock.

"Yes indeed, Swift is the daughter of my late husband."

"Ah yes, you mean Agent Hallows-"

"Yes, that husband" Red Queen cut across quickly giving the other woman a meaningful look, leaving Swift to stare at them both with wide eyes.

_Holy crap, even Queen Bee knows my father?! Just how many supervillains know my family?!_

"Well, that's a relief" Queen Bee sighed "For a moment there I thought that you and that blasted Batman-

"Oh, no, no, your majesty. It's not like that at all." Red Queen chuckled. "Besides, word on the grapevine is that that particular idea has already been planned out and executed by someone else. Of course, I don't know who, so I am not at liberty to say. But even so, it could also just be a rumour."

"Well even if a rumour it still makes good food for thought."

There was the crunching of dirt as Lex Luthor, who had been greeting Ishan, with whom he seemed to be on friendly speaking terms, stepped forward to join the conversation.

"Why my dear don't you look ravishing" he kissed her pale hand, the one with the spider tattoo, his dark eyes glinting with wicked desire as they swept over the deep plunging neckline that left little to the imagination.

"I'm glad you like it Lex" Red Queen smiled coquettishly back, her voice a silky purr.

It took all of Swift's willpower to resist the urge to throw up then and there. But some of her disgust must've shown up on her face because Lex turned to smirk at her.

"My, My, little miss Swift how much you've grown." he looked at her body up and down, the glint in his eyes brightening as his gaze trailed over her developing curves. He was particularly pleased by her shapely hips in the dark suit, as she saw him smirk appreciatively down at them.

"It would seem attractiveness runs in the family."

"Too bad it doesn't run in yours. Luthor" Swift's muttered through gritted teeth crossing her arms across her chest as another person stepped forward to join them.

"Tut! Tut! Now Swift is that any way to speak to one of your mother's  _friends_ " Red Queen's eyes narrowed warningly as she smirked.

" _Friends_? So, you two back to screwing each other again? Oh? Whoops! Was that supposed to be private? I'm  _so_  sorry" Swift raised her eyebrows, enjoying the slightly surprised look that slashed over Queen Bee's face. But that didn't compare to the snarl that swept over the unmasked portion of Red Queen's face.

"Red Knight prepares the helicopter." she barked.

"Of course, mam" Ishan bowed before looking at Swift his amber eyes glinting "Till next time."

"Like hell, there's gonna be another next time," Swift growled, though inwardly she hoped she'd see him again. She still had so much to ask him.

He smirked and walked away.

Luthor gave a quick cough.

"Ladies please if you would care to join me. One of our other young guests seems to be arriving now." he gestured over to a spot which they walked towards slowly.

As they approached, they saw a young woman with dirty blonde hair and in a grey office suit walk over towards them with a deadpan expression.

"Mercy! Is he here?"

"Yes, sir." The woman nodded her voice a strange monotone. It was almost robotic. "He's descending now in fact."

Swift looked overhead just as she saw, sure enough, the dark outline of what seemed to be a supped-up cycle descend to the grassy ground.

Her eyes widened with shock as she recognised the blue energy lines, red paint coat and worst of all the vehicle's driver who quickly caught sight of her standing alone in the open in front of the group of super villains.

"Swift" Superboy breathed in shock as she ran up to him.

"Superboy…I…I…I!" she tried to reach for his shoulder, but Superboy swatted her away glaring down on her angrily.

" _You_ "

"Superboy please listen-It's not what looks like-"

"I thought you said we were friends?!  _Family_! And all this time it was you?" he grabbed her wrist and held her up to dangle in the air.

"Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me!"

"Superboy please" Swift winced, her eyes spilling over with tears as he gripped her tiny wrist tighter in his hands. Superboy shut his eyes tight and sighed.

"I knew it" he muttered dropping her to the ground where she proceeded to cry.

"Welcome Superboy" Lex smiled widely in mocking welcome as Superboy turned around to face their group. "I'd like to introduce you to my associates. Queen Bee and Red Queen"

"My pleasure," both women said, looking down with calculating smirks at the sobbing Swift on the ground as Lex continued the introductions.

"And I believe you know everyone else? Sportsmaster, Mercy, Blockbuster and our new friend Bane who has allowed us the use of his island for certain…considerations" Superboy looked around and saw each of the new faces appear, many armed goons flanked the last of whom.

"So, the Injustice League was just a distraction? You three have been behind everything from the start."

Luthor chuckled darkly. "A flattering notion son. But as you have seen. We have many friends."

There was the whirring sound from above as a helicopter flew down. Swift looked up just in time to feel the wind whip around her and see it land.

"Is this one of your friends now?" Superboy glared at Lex who smirked

"No, my boy. One of yours."

"Artemis?" Both Superboy and Swift gasped as a familiar green-clad girl with blond hair stepped out of the helicopter followed by the masked Cheshire and hooded Ishan, who was at the controls setting them for landing.

"The hero thing wasn't working out" Artemis shrugged as she and Cheshire walked over to Sportsmaster who nodded in acknowledgement putting a hand on her shoulder. "You both know how it is. No trust this is where I belong."

"It's a fast-growing club" Queen Bee smirked as a shadow passed above them.

There was a whoosh of air as the bioship came to hover above them, a hole in its floor opening allowing for a familiar cloaked figure to float through.

Miss Martian's eyes widened at the state of her friends below.

"Why are they here? You promised-" She rounded on Queen Bee who hissed irritably at her.

"I've kept your secret and my promise. Now you keep yours."

Miss Martian gulped and looked down at the ground with shame.

"Good girl."

"Well, well, my dear" Red Queen smirked down at Swift who looked up at her through tears in her eyes "It seems as if I was right after all. Our kind of people can never have a family, not if they truly want to survive and thrive in this world."

"Only too true" Luthor nodded in agreement.

Superboy looked down on Swift with narrowed eyes as she gave a howl of misery and clutched at her hair. He gritted his teeth and looked at Lex.

"Give me more shields, and I'm in too"

Lex strode over to him confidently but then paused, smirking.

"My boy, you're a terrible liar. Red Sun"

"Superboy…" Swift looked up through tears to watch and saw to her horror that Superboy, who had just been about to lunge at Lex, had stopped dead in his tracks.

There was a pause, but Superboy didn't move a muscle.

Eventually, Artemis stepped forwards, hands on her hips.

"What do you want us to do?"

Luthor looked over at Sportsmaster who nodded back and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"You two, follow me" he barked at Cheshire and Artemis who immediately began to follow.

"Wh-What about Superboy…and Swift?" Miss Martian asked timidly.

"Superboy will be fine…he simply requires a few…adjustments." Queen Bee smirked.

"And as for my daughter…" Red Queen looked over at Ishan, who'd been standing in the shadows of a tree. He nodded and walked over to Swift who shivered as he approached.

He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, though she was still doubled over sobbing.

"Bring them along" Luthor, linked both his arms with Red Queens and Queen Bee and barked at Blockbuster who nodded and walked over towards Superboy.

But before the mutated scientist could even get three giant strides through Artemis sprang forwards and shot an arrow …right at him.

* * *

_**Mount Justice, December 30 2010, 15:45 EST** _

Superboy was standing in front of them all looking grim.

"There's something I need to do…something I need to tell you. Last month on Thanksgiving. I went back to CADMUS, found a few things out. When I was cloned only half the DNA was Superman's the other half was human, that's why I don't have…will never have…full Kryptonian powers."

"You sure?" Robin raised his eyebrows "because you sure seemed to have them today."

"I've been using these" Superboy pulled up a sleeve to reveal a black patch of some kind in the shape of a pentagon. "Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, the heat vision…but I think I also get angry. Well…angrier. I'm sorry" he aimed his apology more at Swift than at anyone else because she was still looking pissed off at him.

She was a Bat and Bats had pride that wasn't so easily stepped on without repercussions. But still…he was her little brother, and he couldn't really help his anger issues, plus he was sincerely apologising…

"It's ok Conner. I'm not pissed off…anymore" she huffed, but the corners of her mouth still twitched upwards nonetheless.

"Where did you get those" Aqualad pointed at the shield on Superboy's arm.

At this Superboy looked very sheepish.

"From my human father…Lex Luthor"

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Lex Luthor…Is. Your. DAD?" Robin gaped his jaw-dropping.

"He's summoned me to Santa Prisca."

"Oh god …" Swift's heart was racing in her chest as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Swift?" Robin looked sidelong at her with foreboding. He saw her widened white slits in her mask and his face paled "Oh no…don't tell me…she hasn't?!"

"Yes, she has" She groaned.

"Oh far out! Is that why she sent the-" Robin gestured wildly, and she nodded morosely.

"Yes!"

"Err…hello! Could you two speak English? There are some of us who don't have the strange Birdy link between the two of you" Kid Flash groaned in exasperation.

Swift gulped. Well, she might as well come clean with it now, since they asked so nicely.

"Alright here goes…You guys remember what I told you about Red Queen, right?"

"Yes" most of them nodded except for Rocket who was looking confused.

"Who's Red Queen?"

"One of the most secretive and dangerous Supervillainesses of this world, intent upon destroying everything the League and I stand for" Swift bristled uncomfortably "…she's also my biological mother."

"WHAT!" Zatanna shrieked. "How come you never mentioned  _that_  before?"

"You guys never really asked" Swift looked at them all with faint amusement. They were taking this much better than she thought they would. In her mind, there had been a lot angrier outbursts and broken furniture flying around, but that may have been because she visualised telling them all in the common room.

"…Mother?! Now I  _didn't_  see that coming" Kid pretended to be as shocked as the rest of them, but Swift rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you did you numbskull, but that's not the point. She's invited me to Santa Prisca too."

"What…why?" Aqualad asked looking shocked.

"Dunno?" she shrugged. "But for whatever reason she and Lex give, it can't be plainer they're hatching something on that island."

"Just one question…" Robin turned around so that he could face her, his face grave and slightly hurt "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? The woman sent me a death threat, and you still didn't tell me!"

"Death threat? What death threat?" Aqualad's eyes widened in shock.

"At Christmas Red Queen sent me a box with a dead Robin in it" Swift sighed heavily.

"And in spite of that, you still didn't tell me about the meeting?!" Dick scowled folding his arms "I thought you said you trusted me?"

"Rob… I do trust you, but like I've told you before…Red Queen has taken so much away from me already…and I guess…when I received that first text…I…was so terrified that I…" She heaved a huge sigh and looked to the ground.

"Did the first thing on autopilot?" he nodded.

"Yeah…sorry"

Robin paused for a moment before shaking his head with an exasperated smile.

"Argh! Who am I kidding? I can't stay mad at you." he held out his arms for a hug.

"Wait" she pushed him back before he could. "There's something else."

"Oh god, you're kidding!" Wally groaned. The speedster wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"There's a reason I got my new powers…" Swift gulped, steeling herself as she straightened up and looked at all her team. "I'm a genomorph just like Conner."

"WHAT!" Artemis, Zatanna, Miss Martian and Rocket all spluttered.

"Yeah…" Robin sighed much to Swift's surprise "apparently Batman found her in a secret underground lab under Gotham. So that first day when we freed Superboy when Desmond tried to experiment on us, her genomorph genes were activated."

"Okay first off how the hell do you know that?!" Swift gaped at her partner "I've only told Conner about this!"

"I might have hacked into the Bat-computer ages ago" Robin scratched the back of his head.

"How long is ages ago?" Swift frowned.

"Since August."

"WHAT!?" Swift almost screeched.

"Swift stop!" Kaldur, grabbed her before she could swipe at her partner "It's alright. Robin told us about it. At least he told Red Arrow, Kid Flash and I about it" he added when Artemis, Miss Martian and Rocket all glowered at him.

"He What?! When?" Swift's face was now paler than her hair.

"Just after Thanksgiving" Wally grunted, "Y'know when we faced down Red Queen."

"I…I think I need to sit down," Swift mumbled as she sank to the floor, Aqualad gently putting a hand around her shoulder.

"Uh…guys…" Artemis had stepped forwards looking somewhat nervous.

Everyone turned to look at their resident archer with dread.

"Listen…Superboy and Swift aren't the only ones suffering from bad DNA."

She walked away from them to summon up a holo-computer keyboard which she quickly typed into, pulling up three pictures of three people.

"My mother is Huntress. Ex-Con. The rest of my family aren't even ex. My father is Sportsmaster, and he's sending my sister Cheshire to fly me to Santa Prisca too."

Swift's eyes narrowed as she saw Cheshire and Sportsmaster's faces appear side by side next to an Asian woman with short black hair, whose face was half covered by the band of red holo-text saying "retired."

"So that's why…" Kid Flash's face dawned with sudden realisation.

"Yeah…" Artemis looked uncharacteristically small and anxious "I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out-"

"We knew," Robin called out suddenly pulling up his and Swift's linked hands.

"You mean  _you_  knew.  _I_  decided to give her some  _privacy_ " Swift rolled her eyes as she noticed the rather affronted look on Artemis's face

"What? We're detectives, aren't we? We figure stuff out when we get curious." He pouted but then turned back to his other teammates with a smile. "But that never mattered. You aren't your family. You're one of us."

Artemis gave a small smile as Kid Flash came up to her grinning.

"So…Who's next?" he chuckled.

"I am…" Everyone turned in surprise to see Miss Martian standing in their midst on her own, holding herself tight so that she appeared smaller and frailer.

"I swear I was kidding" Kid gulped, though no one took notice.

"Queen Bee's been…blackmailing me…she wants me in Santa Prisca too."

"Blackmailing? How?" Aqualad exchanged worried glances with his other teammates from Swift's side.

"She knows my…true Martian form" Miss Martian looked down at the floor.

"Bald M'gann?" Robin grinned trying to lighten the mood "Who cares if your-"

"No" Miss Martian shut her eyes.

Then suddenly she began to shapeshift, though the shape Swift noticed, wasn't anything she'd seen before.

She grew, taller and taller until she was the height of about one and a half men. Her limbs elongated and turned claw-like, her hips narrowed, her face became squat as the gums and teeth became exposed and her regular amber orbs turned into tiny red pinpricks of light amidst a mass of tough chalk-white skin that spread over her entire body.

There were several gasps of horrified amazement as the transformation finished. The Martian looked around and once again held herself tight with her long strange fingers.

_I knew you would never accept me if you saw what I am_

Miss Martian's hurt voice wafted through the mental link.

"M'gann" Aqualad's eyes softened with pity "Did we truly seem so shallow?"

"I couldn't take the chance. Being a white Martian among the green on Mars I endured constant rejection. I couldn't face that from-"

"From me?" Superboy stepped forwards. Out of all of them, he seemed the least surprised at seeing her true form in their midst. He took one of her hands and held it in his.

Swift smiled as she saw Miss Martian's head twitch from side to side. They were working this out over the privacy of the mental link.

"We should do this more often" Kid Flash grinned as Miss Martian shifted back into her regular humanoid form. "Could be a good monthly Teambuilding Exercise."

"You know Baywatch" Artemis smirked, "That might not be such a bad idea."

"It would certainly keep everyone honest," Aqualad nodded in agreement.

"And it could help wheedle out any other possible mole problems that might come our way" Swift smirked feebly as she got back up to her feet shaking her head fondly as Robin began snickering. "You were just thinking about all of us looking like real little furry moles, weren't you?"

"Yes"

Everyone sighed in exasperation.

* * *

_**Santa Prisca, December 30 2010, 17:59 ECT** _

Artemis's arrow twanged from its bow and struck Blockbuster, instantly bursting into a mass of high-density foam.

"Sorry, Dad! Wanted to play you like you played mom! But I can't let them mess with Superboy's head" She quickly turned around and fitted another arrow to her bow.

_M'gann be a dear and take Artemis down_

Queen Bee looked at Miss Martian who nodded, glaring fiercely.

She raised her palm. Swift watched as Artemis was lifted into the air, just in time to miss being hit by Sportsmaster who'd just lunged for her.

Then the Martian girl's hands flicked sideways.

Red Queen and Lex Luthor both jerked back in surprise as Queen Bee was flung backwards telekinetically into a tree, where she crumpled at its feet.

At that same moment, Artemis shot a smoke bomb arrow and knocked out her dad and sister.

_Queen Bee is down. Superboy you're safe from her control_

Miss Martian confirmed over the mental link.

Swift stopped crying and delivered a squirt of her little bottle of eye drops into Red Knight's face. He jerked away from her allowing her to spin around and throw an exploding birdarang filled with knockout gas.

"Next time you even think of touching me, think twice" she growled as she stood up to join Superboy.

 _Would you like to do the honours little bro?_  Swift smirked.

 _Split it. Fifty-fifty_. The corners of Superboy's lips twitched upwards as they stood back to back.

"I may not be a good liar! But I fooled you" he glared as they both walked towards Red Queen and Lex Luthor both of whom were looking shocked.

"And I'm so proud" Luthor dusted himself off, motioning for Mercy to defend him and his partner in crime.

"I take it Miss Martian cleaned Red Sun from your mind-"

"And confirmed Swift, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash rescued me from CADMUS  ** _before_**  you had time to install any other programming."

"Or damage his mind to be susceptible to any telepathic controls you'd place in him" Swift glowered at her mother who sighed.

"All true."

"Though personally, I blame Dr Desmond" Luthor frowned just as a dark shape hurtled towards them from the side.

"Swift!" Superboy called as Ishan made to grab the girl wonder in a lock, but failed as she flipped them over.

"I'm fine" Her eyes widened.

"Superboy behind you!"

Superboy turned just in time to see Blockbuster let out a tremendous roar and burst forth from the firm green foam. He rammed into the super clone holding him over the edge of a nearby cliff wall.

But Swift didn't have time to see anything else. Ishan had just hit her painfully in the shoulder.

"Sorry beautiful, It's nothing personal, it's just business" he growled before rolling over and pinning her down.

"I know! Grandpapa told me already" Swift hissed in her ear and she saw his eyes widened behind the lenses of his visor.

"What did you just say?"

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me" She grunted quickly pulling her legs up to her chest and using all her core strength to throw him off with her feet on his solar plexus.  _Guy's reinforcement time_

She heard Artemis call over the mental link.

 _About bloody time._ Swift's eyes narrowed as through the corner of her eye she saw Rocket and Kid Flash take down Bane's followers.

**HSSSSSS**

Swift wheeled around to see Ishan throw a smoke pellet down to the floor, before grabbing her arms in a lock and dragging her out of sight.

"How much do you know?" he hissed in her ear as quietly as possible.

"Enough to know you're not the perverted clone that stabbed me."

Swift narrowed her eyes as she wrenched herself out of his grip.

She aimed a hit which he blocked, though neither of them made any lethal blows.

"Then you know-"

"About the Court? Yeah." Swift kicked him in the gut before launching herself to deliver a punch to his abdomen.

"Don't worry I won't blow your cover." she murmured as he doubled over, noticing with dread that the smoke was beginning to clear.

Ishan noticed it too, for his voice was urgent as he hissed.

"We're gonna have to make this look real or else we'll both be in deep shit." He grunted the last word as he aimed a knee into her gut which she dodged.

"Don't worry. I'll go easy on you" Swift growled, and for a split second, she thought she saw him smirk.

It wasn't an evil or malicious expression. It was a familiar warm and affectionate quirk of the lips, which vanished in an instant as he forced himself to snarl.

"You little brat!" He roared, catching the attention of the other fighters around them.

"Swift look out!" Artemis cried out as Swift was thrown back and Ishan raised his arm.

At once a jet of fire blazed out from a flamethrower gauntlet.

It was searing hot, yet he was careful not to hit too close to her, giving the girl wonder enough time to dodge out of the way and leap into the air with her mechanical wings.

"Not so fast!" Ishan snarled as he activated something on his back. At once a black jetpack ignited and shot him up into the air.

He aimed another few blasts with his flamethrower gauntlet laughing loudly as they both zoomed around the battlefield. The sound was terrifying, and though she knew it was only done for show, it sent such bad tremors through Swift that she was almost unable to focus on her flying. Several times she'd almost been hit by ricocheting bullets, and once she'd even gotten grazed on the shoulder.

She could barely concentrate on her friend's concerned calls through the mental link as she was forced to zoom around the Super Cycle so that she could bank sharply and throw Ishan off course.

_Watch it, man!_

Swift yelped as she dodged another fire blast and his fake manic cackles became louder behind her.

"You leave her alone you monster!" came a loud, angry yell as Miss Martian flew in front of Swift her glowing green eyes flashing dangerously.

"M'gann no!" Swift pushed her teammate out of the way just in time to avoid the greatest blast of fire of all. They both crashed into the ground, Swift cushioning their fall by landing on her wings on her back.

"Hahahahaha!" Ishan's laugh was louder than ever as he hovered above them, looking down on them with relish. "Oh how I wish I could stay to finish you off Martian girl, but I've gotta jet."

_Seriously, gotta jet! Your puns are worse than Robin's!_

Swift's eyes widened as she saw, illuminated in the fire of his jetpack, a helicopter ascending into the air. Ishan flew up higher to go level with it, chancing one glance back at her.

Swift glowered back, though she couldn't help but hope he'd be safe. She'd just risked so much by having that conversation; she shuddered to think what her grandfather or mother would do to him if his cover were blown.

She didn't even bother to move to stop the helicopter from leaving. She only sat and shivered on the ground like she had a temperature.

Her grandfather…that monster who had imprisoned her father under his thumb for four years. That monster who had resurrected her dead friend to use as a slave. That monster who would make a weapon from an innocent baby. She had to do something about it.

But what?!

She felt something warm surround her hand and jumped. But it was only Miss Martian's hand.

"Hey…you ok?"

"Sorry…I just zoned out." Swift looked down at the ground wiping her brow of the sweat.

"It's okay. I understand" Miss Martian's face softened as she reached down to help the young girl "But at least now you don't have to face him alone anymore."

Swift smiled wearily as a wave of positive emotion that wasn't her own, seeped into her, calming her body and mind as she was pulled up to her feet.

"Thank you M'gann."

"Any time Swift" Miss Martian's face split into a kind smile as she gripped Swift's hand tightly in hers.

"M'gann! Swift!"

"We're right here Kaldur" Miss Martian called as she saw the tall, dark figure that was the Atlantean run over to them.

Aqualad sighed with relief as he caught sight of them.

"Am I interrupting anything?" he smirked

"It's okay. We just finished" Swift smiled running up to him and hugged him tightly. Miss Martian smiled at them and flew off quickly to give them some privacy, winking at Swift as she passed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you with… _him_ " Aqualad rumbled, his webbed hands balling at the mention of Ishan's existence.

"It's ok," Swift reached down to squeeze the fists. "We handled it. He's gone"

"For now. Though if I should have the displeasure of seeing his face again, I will not hesitate to destroy it." Aqualad grunted quietly so that only she could hear, though he was quick to soothe himself as he leaned his forehead down against hers. Her touch was comforting, like a sea current grazing his skin.

"Hey guys!" a voice called, and they all turned to see the rest of their teammates and Wolf all running up to them.

"Hey boy" Swift smiled, petting the giant canine fondly as it nosed its way between her and her boyfriend.

"You guys okay?" Robin grinned "I saw you fighting Red Knight. He was totally on fire tonight!"

"Agh! You and your puns" Swift rolled her eyes as Aqualad shook his head fondly.

"Oh come on you know you love them" The boy wonder elbowed her teasingly, much to Aqualad's amusement.

"Come on…let's go."

They made their way over to the rest of the group just as Kid Flash and Artemis also came level.

Robin caught the speedster's eye and gave him a knowing wink and a smirk. Kid blushed a little but grinned sheepishly all the same.

"Wow! It is always like this" Rocket smiled happily at all of them.

"Told you" Zatanna nodded grinning as well.

"So recap!" Swift smirked, "One of our good friend's has joined the Justice League, we get a sassy new team member, we beat up some pretty tough villains, we retrieve our mystery case, and we solve the mole problem!"

"In short disaster averted. Feeling the Aster" Robin chuckled.

"Agreed. This has been a good day" Aqualad smiled proudly around at all of them. Today of all days he could not have asked for a better team. "Come, let's go back to the ship.

They all sighed with relief as they saw the red bioship descend into the clearing.

"Ooh Boy! I can't wait to get home!" Zatanna groaned as she stretched out her arms behind her head.

"Me too. God, I need a shower" Rocket grumbled.

"Join the club gorgeous" Kid Flash grunted, though everyone was quick to notice he glanced at Artemis as he said this.

Behind the speedster's back, Conner, M'gann and Robin all rolled their eyes. Ever since Swift and Aqualad got together, the cave had all moved onto their latest matchmaking project between the red-head speedster and the blonde archer.

Swift was relieved at the change of spotlight, firstly because it gave her plenty of opportunity for payback on six months' worth of teasing. But most importantly it gave her more time to have quieter uninterrupted moments with her Atlantean.

"You didn't tell me you knew about me being a genomorph" she murmured as she and Aqualad trailed behind at the back of the team, holding hands.

"I didn't think it mattered." He muttered. "To me, you're still the same headstrong, kind and independent girl who I shook hands with the first day I met her outside the Hall of Justice."

"And you're still the same silver-tongued lady-killer who always knows exactly what to say to make a girl weak at the knees." Swift grinned.

"[True, though I have to admit, it's adorable when your legs turn into jellyfish]" he smirked into her ear in deep Atlantean.

"Okay, now you're just being mean" she pouted, and he chuckled heartily.

"[Trust me angelfish, if I were being mean to you, you would know.]

"Alright, I'm going to let that one slide because you probably called me an angel. But one of these days I'm going to learn Atlantean and then we'll see how well you can tease me then!"

"I'd be happy to teach you if you would like." Aqualad suddenly switched back to English as they ascended the ramp into the bioship "Though I warn you, it's not an easy language to learn"

"I think I can handle it" Swift smirked "Besides, I've got a pretty talented tongue."

"Indeed, you do." Aqualad leaned down to give her a brief but intense kiss.

"Seriously do you guys never stop?" Kid Flash groaned as he sank in his seat, his cheeks pink.

Everyone laughed as, without breaking the kiss, the girl wonder gave the speedster the bird behind her boyfriend's back. God, she loved her friends, but sometimes they could be such idiots.

* * *

**_?, December 30 2010, 22:42 EST_ **

"AHRGHH! GODDAMNIT!"

_SMASH! CLANG! CRASH!_

"Mam if you would please calm down."

"Don't you tell me what to do you, stupid boy! Damn it! That little brat! How dare she-HOW DARE SHE! We had it all planned out! Everyone was there! We had them all at our fingertips! And yet somehow-SOMEHOW that little bitch managed to manoeuvre her and her little team of super brats into winning"

"Maybe it was a lucky shot."

"Lucky?! Ha! Unlikely. You forget Ishan. She's more like me than she knows. She may not be aware of it completely, but instinctively she knows how to play the game. She knows…She knows how to play the chessboard; she can see it set out in front of her now just as easily as I can now…and that can only mean one thing…"

'"Mam?"

"Call Vandal Savage. Tell him it's urgent and that he needs to move his pawn on the field at once because as of now… the gloves come off."

"And what do we do after that"

"We? We stay right where we are and see how this first match plays out. Do not interfere! No matter what happens!"

* * *

_**The Watchtower, December 30 2010, 23:46 EST** _

Batman was standing alone in the meeting room of the Justice League headquarters studying the bio-circuitry of the strange little nano-chips the team had found.

_Odd…I cannot even understand the language of the software…_

He vaguely wondered whether he should call the cave and try and get both Dick and Christine online to help him if they were not to busy with their own New Year's celebrations.

He sighed softly as he pulled up a larger holographic image of the internal structures. Oh god, how he wished he could be at home resting and relaxing with the two of them instead of being stuck up here in outer space with a puzzle in front of him and an annoyingly loud party on the other side of the door, which slid open at that moment.

"So, are you ever joining the party?" Came the familiar voice of Red Arrow.

Batman turned around to see the younger man smirking with his arms folded across his chest.

"Or should I call Chris to put you under her spell with her big puppy dog eyes?"

Batman's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly at the joke. He turned back to look at the hologram eyes narrowed.

"This Bio-circuitry is disturbingly sophisticated."

"I'll take that as a no" Red patted him on the back before turning to leave.

Batman sighed as he yearning to see both his kids and spend some quiet time welled up slightly, but no sooner had the thought crossed his mind he felt a sting in his head.

He grunted in shock. Oh no! What was happening? Christine's and Dick's faces were fading fast in front of his eyes…no wait scratch that he was fading…his mind was…

Red Arrow smirked as Batman turned around to face him, his face blank and more devoid of emotion than ever in his wiped-out state.

They both walked out the doorway and into the main hall of the Watchtower, where every single member, from the new to the old were standing in two lines waiting more obediently and rigidly than even the tin soldiers from Christine's Nutcracker ballet.

Red Arrow escorted the mind-controlled Batman up to a small holo-computer keyboard where he entered a sequence of code before speaking mechanically.

"Override Batman 02"

**_Recognised_ **

The feminine computer voice announced as the Zeta tube in front of them whirred into life.

**_Access Granted: Vandal Savage, A04_ **

A figure stepped out of the glowing yellow light, tall and big in stature, with dark hair and skin and three large slashing scars across his face, wearing dark blue clothes with red trimming stepped out.

He smirked down at the heroes below him who all bowed on one knee before him. All except one…

Red Arrow grunted rubbing the side of his head round and round like he was trying to get rid of a headache. Finally, he seemed to come to and gasped.

Panic filled every fibre of his being as he looked around at all the kneeling, mind-controlled heroes, before staring up at the man towering above him.

"I-I was the mole?"

"Yes" Savage's smile widened as he descended the stairs "Yes you were"

Red Arrow stared ahead, seeing but not seeing as he looked at the zeta tube and faintly he was reminded of the first time he'd come to the cave. He saw all his friends' faces, saw their smiles as they laughed and joked, saw their anger when they argued, saw their delight when he finally made it…

_"_ _Good luck Roy. I really hope you make it_ _."_

_"_ _Don't worry I will."_

_Oh no…_

He fell to his knees shaking like a leaf. They were his friends…his family…and now…he'd failed them…he'd failed all of them…

"…What have I done?


	26. Auld Acquaintance

_**Gotham City Catacombs, September 17 1996, Unknown time** _

The man in the white suit and the white owl mask stared at the glass pod before him.

The baby in it was almost fully developed. She looked so sweet, with her soft, thick tuft of brown atop her head and round chubby body. To the ordinary eye, she was just an adorable little infant.

But he knew better. She was so much more than just a child.

"How soon will she be ready?" He turned towards a scientist, a dark-skinned man with greying hair and dark eyes.

"Soon Grandmaster." Sylas Alderwood sighed as he checked the readings on the nearby computer "If all goes well with the next experiment she should be ready within the next fortnight."

The grandmaster smiled behind his mask as he reached up to press against the glass of the pod with a claw-like wrinkled hand.

"Did you hear that little one? You will soon be out of your pod. Soon you will be mine. My strong, faithful little Talon."

His smirk widened as suddenly the baby's eyes fluttered open within the pod. Each orb was a chocolatey, warm, rich dark brown.

Despite all the modifications he'd made to her already, he was proud to see the genetics of his bloodline had remained strong.

After all, the family came first. It was the foundation his ancestors had built this secret society. For him, his family was the building blocks of an empire that had lasted generations and even centuries. It seemed only right that he should produce the most powerful soldier in the world with his flesh and blood. He would have no other substitute.

His pride swelled in his chest as the little infant's pudgy hand reached forward to touch the glass where his claw was.

 _Such innocence_  he mused as he traced the glass. But he need not worry, that innocence would be squashed out of her very quickly.

"One day you'll be ready." He murmured as Alderwood quietly made his way over to his desk to write down some more notes.

"One day you'll be the strongest Talon and nothing anyone can do will stop it. You will be the weapon that brings down empires. You will lead the Court out of the shadows and into the light, by my side, and we will be unstoppable."

* * *

_**Mount Justice, December 31 2010, 07:16 EST** _

Swift yawned as she and her team walked down the length of the corridor.

"Remind me again why we can't have a lie in? We kicked ass yesterday!" she grumbled sleepily at Aqualad as he but dragged her down the corridor to walk with the rest of the team.

"We have every reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories. But one thing has not changed." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us?" Robin grunted as he strode up level with his partner's shoulder.

"Great just great" She rolled her eyes yawning again, and Aqualad shook his head at her with fond exasperation. It was amazing just how grumpy a morning person his girlfriend could be.

"Yeah! But still, at least we know none of us is the mole" Kid Flash added happily as they stepped into the main hall where Batman and Red Tornado were waiting for them patiently.

"That's correct" the Dark Knight growled as he typed onto a holo-computer "The mole was…Red Arrow"

"What?!" Robin cried out, as did most of the team.

"Roy…" Swift's eyes widened all sleepiness forgotten as she gripped Aqualad's hand tighter.

"No way!" Kid Flash yelled in disbelief.

"Batman that cannot be" Aqualad stepped forwards his face strained by disbelief "He was Green Arrow's protégé. We have all known him for years."

"Unfortunately," Red Tornado said mechanically as always "The Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project CADMUS clone."

"WHAT!" Swift's voice cracked slightly. This could not be true; it couldn't. She had to force herself to listen as Batman continued the explanation calmly.

"The real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick. The clone was pre-programmed with a drive to join the Justice League, which is why he was so angry over any delays to his admission, and why he refused to join the team. This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor. And his subconscious programming drove him to become League worthy, so he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. During the past six months, he has been our enemies tool in implementing certain schemes, such as the attack on the Hall of Justice. When he was finally admitted, his secondary programming kicked in, and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared."

"Savage was subdued, but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive. Armed and  _dangerous_ " Red Tornado finished off.

"If you guys hadn't rescued me from CADMUS…" Superboy scratched the back of his neck as a chill of foreboding ran up his spine.

"What…what happened to the real Roy?" Robin was still looking shocked, but he held himself together.

"We don't know. He isn't at CADMUS. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead" Batman broke off as a tiny sniff became audible. They all looked to see Swift scrubbing at her masked eyes.

She could not believe what she was hearing. Roy, one of her closest friends, someone she almost considered another brother had been the traitor all this time?! And to top it off he was the one who had fired those shots at the Hall of Justice, injuring her godfather and all those civilians?

_Was he the one who left that dead robin at Christmas?_

She shivered to lean into Aqualad's arms. He too looked very shaken by the news, for he and Roy had been good friends for nearly two years. Likewise, Kid Flash looked down at the ground, Artemis putting a consoling hand on his shoulder. Robin meanwhile just clenched his jaw as he tried his very best to keep it all together, though if one were to look closely, they would've noticed his shaking fists by his sides.

The others watched them with pity. They'd not known Roy very well, or for very long, but they all knew how close the bond between the five original sidekicks was.

"The cloned Roy. The Team will find him" Aqualad declared, but Batman shook his head.

"Negative. Red Arrow is a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us. Swift, I need you to come with me."

"Wh-what? But-" Swift sputtered, but Batman cut across her firmly.

"That wasn't a request. That was an order. The League needs us both at the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the rest of the kids."

He barked as he strode forwards, grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her out of Aqualad's grip.

"But-Why-Ok-Ok! Geeze! You don't need to be so rough." she struggled slightly as she gruffly tried to shrug him off, but he wouldn't relinquish his hold. She sighed heavily. "Sorry guys…I guess I'll have to see you all later. Keep me in the loop okay." She turned back looking apologetically at Aqualad who was looking bewildered as she was steered towards the Zeta tube.

She would've turned around for one last glimpse of them all but Batman's hand on her shoulder was surprisingly painful.

_Just what is Dad's deal?_

She winced a little as the Zeta tubes yellow light engulfed her and the familiar disorientation set in as her body was zapped across to the portal's other side.

**_Recognised Batman 0-2, Swift B-0-2_ **

Swift opened her eyes and blinked. She and Batman had reappeared at the top of a small flight of stairs overlooking a large hall. It was strange. It had a roof and columns on all sides, but otherwise, it was almost entirely open.

Swift felt her eyes drawn to the open space in front of her where she could see the massive sphere of the Earth as they hovered over Northern America.

Wow…was that just the planet she'd been on?

She felt Batman's grip on her shoulder tighten

"Dad what-" she gasped.

A tanned-skinned man with black hair, three scars across his face and wearing a long dark blue coat with red lining walked up towards her up the stairs, his brown eyes glinting with triumphant glee.

Swift felt her breath catch in her chest as something cold, flooded through her veins. She knew that face, even though she'd never met its owner. She knew it, because she had seen it in the Justice League archives so many times.

"V-V-Vandal S-Savage?!"

"Hello Miss Swift" Vandal Savage smirked, thrilled at her obvious terror. He looked up at Batman whose face remained completely blank. "Thank you, Batman. I will take it from here."

Swift didn't even have a chance to bolt. Batman had been fast to shove her arm into Savage's grip before turning on his heel.

"Batman, NO! BATMAN!"

But he was already walking away towards the other end of the hall. He didn't even respond. Savage grabbed her as she began to struggle wildly.

"DAD! PLEASE! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! JUST LISTEN TO ME! DAD! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

He was turning around a corner. He hadn't even turned around to look at her as she screeched out for him, tears streaming down her face.

"DAD! WAKE U-"

"SILENCE!"

_KATHWACK!_

Swift put a hand to her cheek as she felt something in her mouth crack. She looked up and stared at Savage through tear stained eyes.

"I would recommend you keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you, your noisy brat" he snarled down on her as he pulled her up to her feet.

"What…What have you done to him?" she growled through her streaming eyes, trying to tug away from him.

"Oh, nothing much that you'll need to worry your pretty little head about" he sneered.

"You let him go!"

"Him? Just him? Your entire world balancing on the edge of a knife and all you bargain for is the life of only one of the people you hold dear?"

She winced as the grip on her wrist became so painful she was sure that it would break under any more pressure. He pulled her up by the wrist into the air so that her face dangled dangerously in front of his.

"I won't release him. Not until I make him kill you, torture you, in every single most horrific, sadistic and vulgar way he knows you fear. And then when he's done, I'll wake him up just long enough to see his good work and I being the merciful man I am, will end his suffering by snapping his neck just as he breaks."

"You-You-You won't-ngh!-get away with this. I-I won't let you" She sobbed through gritted teeth trying to dispel the horrific images flashing across her mind.

Savage burst out laughing, the chortles of malicious pleasure bouncing off the walls and ceiling, reverberating around the room, shaking Swift to her core. He dropped her to the ground where she landed on her front painfully.

She tried to scramble away, but his booted foot flicked out, almost lazily to kick her hard in the guts.

"Tch! You won't let  _me_?! You little brat. Do you think that just because you're the protégé of Batman that you're anything special? Say what you want. Do what you want. It won't change the fact that you're nothing but a pathetic child trying to cling onto your dreams and devotions in hopes that you'll be saved from the darkness of your own making. Wake up, or else you'll end up just like that good for nothing father of your-"

Savages eyes widened in shock as, suddenly as a rattlesnake bite, she lunged at him, her claw-like hands slashing out at him wildly

He pulled up an arm to grab her and fling her off. She was tossed away, but she rolled back to her feet, yellow eyes blazing behind the lenses of her cowl.

"Don't you dare…Don't you dare talk about my father that way you…you…" she growled feeling the familiar tingle of rage begin to consume her body.

"F***ING MONSTER!"

She lunged at him again this time flinging her hands forwards.

With a duck, Savage dodged, but not before her nailed fingers sliced through the air at him like daggers, one grazing passed his left temple.

Savage's breath hitched in his throat as he saw a couple of locks of his rough black hair float to the ground. There was a big slice of metal, and he looked up just in time to roll over to the side as a blasting birdarang was flung at his spot.

The smoke billowed around him as he stood up, but not before he caught sight of a small shadow.

_Hmmph! Bats. Always trying to hide behind a smokescreen_

He smirked lunging forwards in the smoke to grab what he thought would be an arm.

Instead, he was hit in the face by a high kick which sent him stumbling backwards.

"Stupid brat" he grunted as he flung the girl aside.

But that was all the time she needed.

As quick as lightning Swift pulled out a lighter from her utility belt and sucked in a deep breath.

"ARGH!" Vandal Savage cried out, raising his arms to shield his face as the girl wonder used her super breath to give oxygen to the tiny lit matchstick, which blazed into a raging fire before his very eyes. He stumbled back blindly, cursing as one of the sleeves of his jacket caught on fire just as she flung down another smoke pellet at his feet.

"What the?"

He coughed as in the corner of his eye something bright yellow flashed and whirred.

**_Recognised Swift B-0-2_ **

"NO!" he growled in frustration as he lunged for the zeta tube, but too late.

Swift was already gone.

"Aquaman! Green Arrow! Hawkman! Flash! After her! Capture her alive, NOW!"

* * *

_**Hallows Estate, December 31 2010, 07:56 EST** _

"Grandmaster!" a voice hissed urgently as a shadow appeared at the edge of the large pond within the estate's large lush garden.

At a table on a manmade patio, an old man with snowy white hair and blazing yellow eyes sat with a cup of tea before him and the morning paper in his hands.

"You better have a good reason for disturbing my morning cup of tea" Stuart Hallows senior glowered at the kneeling Talon that had interrupted him without looking up once from the news article.

"Sir, it's the Justice League. It appears they've been taken control of by the Light!" the Talon puffed breathlessly as he stood to his feet.

Despite his irritation, the grandmaster of the Court of Owls set down his newspaper. "I see, and?"

"And Vandal Savage is chasing after your granddaughter sir. She's on the run from Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman and the Flash."

Hallows' senior's nostrils flared, and his yellow eyes flashed angrily.

"Have they caught her yet?"

"Not yet sir" the Talon was quivering under his cowl "She's evaded capture so far, but she's not going to last much longer."

"Call my son immediately!" Hallows Senior growled to the Talon "Inform him of the situation and then order him to track down her movements and find her before the Justice League or the Light do. That's an order!" he barked, and at once the Talon disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Agatha!" he called loudly.

"Yes, Mister Hallows Sir" the tall stern form of Agatha came rushing down through the garden. When she caught sight of his face, she paled at once.

It never boded well for anyone when he was in such a foul temper.

"Contact the rest of the Parliament, tell them to postpone the meeting."

"Of course sir" Agatha gulped "Do you know what time you'll be-"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Yes sir, right away sir!" Agatha dashed off terrified leaving Hallows senior to sigh heavily.

"The one time I trust the Batman to keep what is mine safe from our enemy, and already he has failed." He muttered angrily as he stood to his feet, grabbing his owl talon cane in his claw-like hands as he rose to his feet.

"Vandal Savage, if you even touch one hair on that girl's head you will be sorry. No one messes with the Grandmaster of the Court of Owls. Nobody."

* * *

_**Washington D.C., December 31 2010, 08:44 EST** _

Swift had gone through some pretty terrifying things in her life as a hero. She'd been shot at, stabbed, almost strangled, beaten with baseball bats and crowbars. She had fought aliens and magical demons, the works.

It never prepared her for being chased by four brainwashed members of the Justice League.

_I can't believe I've even made it this far!_

She gulped as she flew with her mechanical wings through the air, doing her best to shake off Hawkman who was tailing her closely.

She'd almost managed to lose the four Justice Leaguers by hopping between random Zeta Portals. So randomly, that even she didn't know where she'd end up when she emerged on the other side.

It had worked, until Flash had used his scientific know-how to hack the Zeta Tubes and set them back to normal.

There was a soft twang, and a whoosh as something green and sharp hurtled her way from below.

"Oh crap" she gulped as she caught sight of Oliver Queen, Aka the Green Arrow darting between rooftops and aiming arrows up at her.

From above she could also see the Flash zipping and streaking through the streets while Aquaman used his superior strength to flank her from the rooftops on her other side.

They were corralling her, herding her like a pack of hungry wolves after a hare, and to make matters worse, it was working.

She could feel her arms shaking from fatigue as she flapped her mechanical wings to gain more lift.

"AH!" she winced as another green arrow sliced through the air, grazing her shoulder and causing her to judder and lose speed mid-flight.

"Gotcha" She heard Hawkman's gruff voice behind her, and as she shut her eyes, she could feel him fly faster and higher in the air before tilting himself down.

He was going to dive down from above.

With a growl she turned over to glide on her back just in time to see the winged Thanagarian bear down upon her from above, mace raised to strike.

Desperately she threw one of her birdarangs up at him, and while it did not harm him physically, it did blow up in his face, giving her enough time to use her super breath upon him.

It blew him off course, but also pushed her down towards the roof of a building.

With a heavy thud, she landed on the concrete rooftop, her wings protecting her from the brunt of the fall as she rolled over to a stop.

"Ow," she grunted as she rolled onto her hands and knees only to gasp as a hand reached down and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

It was Green Arrow. His usually smug grinning face was ominously blank as he stared her down behind his domino mask and green hood.

"Ollie?! Oliver listen to me; you've got to wake up!" Swift struggled against the man, but he was utterly indifferent to her plight as he reached a hand to the com in his ear.

"Green Arrow to Watchtower. We have Swift. I repeat we have-AHGH!" he cried out as the Girl Wonder's leg flailed out desperately and kicked him in the knee.

He buckled from the pain, and she seized her chance, reaching blindly for an arrow in his quiver before dashing away.

"FLASH!" the green archer called, and at once a blur of red zipped over to block Swift's escape.

"Barry! Oliver Stop! I don't want to fight you!" Swift cried out as Flash ran in circles around her and Green Arrow, running so fast that he created a crackling electrical perimeter around them both.

Above her head, she could see the shadow of Hawkman circling the air above as he glared her down.

There was a heavy thud, and Swift wheeled around to see Aquaman had leapt over the speedsters barrier and was standing on her other side.

Like the others his usual regal yet kindly face was dark and threatening as he readied his trident.

Swift looked down at the single arrow she'd snatched from Green Arrow. She could tell from the distinctive markings that one shot with high-density polyurethane foam.

_I guess I'll have to make do then._

"Dammit!" She gritted her teeth as she saw Aquaman charge her down. She flipped over his head, using her metal wings to block Hawkman's attack from the sky.

She landed on the ground, narrowly avoiding Green Arrow as he swiped at her using his green bow as a weapon to hit her.

She dodged his attacks, narrowly avoiding The Flash's blur as he continued to speed around them, slowly but surely tightening the circle around them all, while Hawkman returned to cover the sky and block off her escape.

_How on earth am I gonna use one foam arrow to take down four of the Justice League?_

She squeaked as she kept ducking and weaving around Aquaman and Green Arrow.

They were rough in their fighting, yet somehow Swift could sense that they were holding back on her as they tried snatching at her. Whatever his reasons, it was clear that Vandal Savage needed her alive and in one piece.

"Surrender now Swift" Aquaman spoke in a monotone as he and Green Arrow both faced her.

"I'll never surrender to you Savage" Swift growled, panting as she reached down into her utility belt pocket.

She only had one smoke pellet left. It was her only chance, but even if she could throw it what would she do then? It wasn't like she could defeat the four of them on her own.

Flying was out of the question. Hawkman would smash her face in with his mace sure as eggs.

Flash might mow her over if she tried to run through his barrier…unless…

She looked down at the foam trick-arrow she had snagged.

She gulped as she steeled herself.

It was no use, she'd have to risk it.

_God, I must be crazy._

With a roar she sped towards Aquaman and Green Arrow, ducking and weaving out from their arms nimbly as she ran towards Flash's barrier.

She saw one of the after images of the speedster spot her and before anyone could stop her, she threw down the foam trick arrow and rolled out of the way only just in time.

Flash grunted as something exploded at his feet and suddenly his whole body was enveloped by a spray of grey-white foam which began to solidify before their very eyes.

Swift thankfully had backflipped away before the blast could hit her. However, Green Arrow and Aquaman who had been chasing after her were not so lucky as their grasping arms were caught in the foam.

They struggled fiercely against the polyurethane as it thickened and hardened securing them in place along with the red speedster.

Swift barely had time to appreciate her victory as the shadow of Hawkman suddenly zoomed down upon her, mace once again raised.

She held up her arms to shield herself.

_BANG!_

There were a loud explosion and a flash of light. Hawkman reeled away in mid-air, clutching his blinded eyes while the rest of his comrades all groaned and turned their faces away.

"Move!" a male voice yelled in Swift's ear as a hand grabbed at her arm.

Shutting her eyes tight, Swift let herself be dragged away, only to have to hold on tight as her saviour launched them both from a grapple gun. They were quick to land in the small narrow alley below, her rescuer quickly opening a sewer grate beneath their feet.

"Get in quick!" he barked, and Swift followed the order without hesitation.

Quickly they slipped below the street, darkness engulfing the two of them until her rescuer switched on a small light.

Swift winced as the bright white light hit her eyes but shook out her head to clear it. She had no time to space out; she needed her head in the game. Her vision was clearing, and she was quick to notice the owl-eye-shaped goggles over the black masked face as its owner gripped her shoulders tight.

"Chris-Chris look at me! Come on. Look at me." she heard her father's voice mumble.

"Papa?" she breathed in relief as a familiar pair of large gloved hands pulled her rumpled cowl down from her head.

"Yes, it's me Chris" the voice of Stuart Hallows Junior, grunted from beneath the Talon's cowl as he smoothed her mussed up white locks from her face "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy. Considering I just escaped the clutches of four members of a mind-controlled Justice League!" Swift rolled her yellow eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"One of our agents told us about Savage and his plan. When I heard that he was chasing after you, I came as fast as I could" Her father sighed as he caught sight of the scratch along her shoulder from where Green Arrow's arrow had grazed. However, apart from that, she seemed more tired than injured.

"Come on" he straightened up letting her go. "We have to keep moving."

"Right, where are we going?" Swift asked, pulling her cowl back on over her face as he led the way through the dark, dank sewer tunnel.

"Somewhere safe. Somewhere the league won't be looking for you."

"Let me guess, one of the Court's safehouses." Swift puffed as she followed behind him, leaning heavily against one of the grimy walls.

"No. One of yours."

* * *

Red Arrow huffed and puffed as he quickly locked the door to his apartment before sliding down against it.

"Shit!" he muttered wiping at the half-dried blood under his nose. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

He could not believe it! Just earlier yesterday he was overjoyed! Happy! He'd finally become a member of the Justice League; he'd had a team of friends, glory, honour, and now…now all he was, was a traitor.

A low life, good for nothing, traitor.

He opened his eyes gritting his teeth as he sat there for a moment. He let himself soak in the grey light of the cloudy sky leaning his sweaty head back into the hard wood of the door half wishing he could sink into it and never come out again.

Unfortunately for him, fate had other plans.

_Rat-tat-tat!_

Red Arrow jumped as the front door behind him suddenly thudded to life.

"Roy! Roy open up!" a girl's voice called. A very familiar girls' voice.

_No, no don't answer. You don't deserve her pity._

He shut his eyes tight, trying and failing to block out the noise as the girl continued to knock and pound her hands against the door.

"Damn it" Red Arrow groaned as he leapt to his feet and swung open the door, bow and arrow prepped and ready to fire.

"Whoa! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

He stopped in his tracks… only just in time.

"Chris?" he blinked. The girl wonder looked a mess. Her cowl was askew, and her suit was torn and covered in sewer grime, flecks of foam and dirt. One of her shoulders had a small bleeding scratch, and a couple of bruises were forming over her jaw from where someone had punched her.

"Roy! Roy! Please! You've gotta help me!" Swift spluttered taking advantage of the redhaired archer's shock "Savage he-he's after me– Dad handed me over to him! The league's been mind-wiped. I can't reach the team-"

"Get in" Red Arrow cut across her quickly, as he tugged her into the apartment.

"Thanks" she sighed as he shut the door behind her.

He was quick to steer her immediately towards a chair, before quickly rushing to draw the curtains and blinds over all the windows, blocking the outside world out and all the light.

"Stay still" he ordered as she shifted from the couch and onto the floor instead.

Swift waited patiently, almost sinking into the second hand worn out upholstery as she leaned back into it. Through the corner of her eye, she could see that it was a few minutes past nine in the morning.

God, had it only been two hours since she left the cave? It felt so much longer than that. She yawned as she sank even further into the sofa. It smelled soothingly like Roy, though she could pick up another slightly more feminine scent that wasn't her own from one of the pillows.

_So Roy's had some girls over has he?_

She smirked despite herself, yawning once again. She felt so exhausted like she would drop dead any second.

Thank heavens her father had stepped in when he had. She didn't think she had any more juice left in her from that fight. As it stood, she was barely able to follow her father through that sewer without leaning against the wall.

_I hope he gets away alright._

She thought, her eyelids drooping as she remembered him leaving her in the alleyway just outside Roy's apartment block.

He'd promised to keep a lookout while she took cover, but still, it didn't stop her from worrying. Hiding from four bloodthirsty, brainwashed members of the Justice League wasn't easy.

She was roused from her drowsy state by Red Arrow quickly kneeling in front of her with a small first aid kit and a glass of water he'd fetched from his kitchen.

"Thanks" she gulped down the water like a dying man, only to hiss as a damp cloth pressed against her shoulder.

"Hold still" Red Arrow grunted as he cleaned the wound. There was silence as Swift watched him patch her up. He didn't ask her any more questions about them; he just tended to her swiftly and soundlessly. Swift didn't mind; she was too tired to hold a conversation let alone vent her anger out at him. He was just about finishing wrapping the injury with gauze when her eyes slowly but surely started to slide shut as fatigue finally took hold of her.

"…Chris?" Red breathed panic hitting him like a hard stroke to a gong, as Swift's eyes rolled and she fell into his chest, motionless and still.

"CHRIS?!"

Something clattered behind him, and Red Arrow turned his head.

The door handle to his apartment was jiggling around as if someone were trying to turn it.

Red Arrow quickly settled Swift down to the ground as gently as he could before snatching up his bow and arrow and readying it to face the door.

There was a pause as the door handle stopped twisting, before…

_CRASH!_

The door flew open revealing a familiar dark-skinned, blonde haired young man with stern green eyes, which widened as he looked into the room.

Red Arrow was holding Swift in his arms, both of them covered in scratches and bruises and looking exhausted.

Aqualad was about to lunge at him, the fire boiling in his gut but quickly stopped as the Girl Wonder stirred.

"Kal?" she mumbled as Red Arrow's arms laid her down gently to the floor where she sat up on her elbows in a daze. Where on earth had Kaldur come from?

_And why is everything still swimming in front of my eyes?_

She clutched at her head, almost missing Aqualad's words as he stepped forward into the room.

"I have not come to harm or apprehend you, but the Team requires answers," Aqualad said calmly, though it was as plain as day that the Atlantean boy's muscles were as tense as the bowstring set to fire at him. Clearly, Swift wasn't in any danger, but Red Arrow was still very much on edge.

"Me first!" Red stepped over the Girl Wonder to protectively stand over her. "Tell me something you haven't told anyone else. Tell me who broke your heart before you were with Chris."

Aqualad's features softened with anguish as he glanced at Swift's confused face.

_Maybe he's trying to suss out if Kal's mind controlled too._

The logical part of her brain piped in helpfully, yet it only made her frown with even more confusion.

_But even if he is, why on earth would Roy want to know a thing like that?_

"Tula…The girl I thought I loved chose my best friend Garth over me. While my best friend on the surface world aims an arrow at my chest while he protects the girl I actually love."

Had she not been so tired or so relieved, Swift would've blushed scarlet at the bold declaration. Now, however, she found herself waiting with bated breath as she watched Red Arrow consider Aqualad's words.

There was a minute of bone-numbing silence, then slowly the red bow and arrow lowered down to the floor.

"Thank god" Swift sighed in relief as Red Arrow stepped back to let his friend make his way over to her.

"Are you alright" Aqualad murmured as he helped her sit upright.

"I'm fine" she puffed leaning into his arms "I outflew-slash-ran four members of the Justice League but…but I'm...fine..." she yawned wide as her eyes began to droop shut once more.

"You're not fine you're exhausted." Red Arrow grunted his voice quivering slightly. She was usually so bright and full of energy and now here she was, lying so motionless on the floor, frailer and more fragile than a dying kitten. It was terrifying.

"Do not worry, we have the bioship waiting outside; you can both rest in there while we find a place to lay low." Aqualad sighed as he carefully picked up the half-asleep girl in his arms.

"Us both?" Red Arrow frowned and Kaldur nodded.

"The team is aware of the full situation. We know about Vandal Savage's plan to hijack the Justice League, and we also know that you did not intend to betray us of your own free will."

"That still doesn't excuse what I did!" Red Arrow snarled down at the floor, guilt once again eating at every pore in his body.

Aqualad sighed.

"Listen, Roy. I'm sorry about what happened to you, I truly am. But if we're going to survive this ordeal and sort things out, you'll have to come with us."

Red Arrow shook his head but holstered his bow on his back.

"Guess I have no choice"

* * *

_**Mount Justice, December 31 2010, 07:20 EST** _

_Huh? KIDS?!_

Robin was still seething about the comment long after Batman had left with his partner. He scowled darkly as Aqualad turned to all of them speaking through the mental link

_Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him._

There was a strange clunking sound behind him, and they all turned to see Red Tornado now freezing in a spot behind their leader his hand up hovering close to his gilled neck.

_Tornado!_

_What happened to him?_

_He's totally powered down_

Kid peered up into the face of the android, noticing the lack of movement in the eyes. Robin and Swift exchanged glances, and both pulled up their holo computers

_All functions offline._

_Uh…guys._

Zatanna's voice sounded very unsure

_I'm sensing a low-level mystic force at play. I don't know if it caused his shutdown. But now that I think about it I was getting the same buzz off Batman._

_Batman…he called us kids. He never does that._

Robin narrowed his eyes scanning Red Tornado's body.

_And he never mistreats Swift either._

Kid Flash reached out to one of the robot's hands.

_Look. One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire_

He held up the strange red chip in his hand.

_Something is not right_

Aqualad frowned.

_Robin, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket. See if you can get Tornado back online. The rest with me to find Ro-Red Arrow_

Aqualad turned his back and led Artemis, Superboy and Miss Martian away to the Zeta tubes to depart.

_So now what?_

Rocket asked looking at Robin who looked at his computer.

_The problem is Hardware, not Software…but where do we start?_

"I have a thought" Zatanna muttered glaring up at the ceiling where the hatch to Red Tornado's apartment was shut.

* * *

It took them a good fifteen minutes for Rocket and Zatanna to safely manoeuvre Red Tornado's Android alter ego down onto a platform beside his standard robot body, by which time Kid and Robin had managed to summon from the floor two adjacent platforms and holo-computers to monitor their download.

"Download in progress" Robin muttered observing as the load up bar popped up on the screen.

"So… Tornado built this android to party?" Rocket raised her eyebrows as she looked down at the synthetic but humanoid face.

"Not how he put it but yeah, more or less" Zatanna shrugged.

Everyone else tilted their heads to the side just as a zeta tube whirred into life.

**_Recognised: Black Canary 1-3_ **

They all looked up to see the beautiful blonde heroin stride towards them from the tube her face marred by gentle concern.

"Hey, guys. Wanted to check in see how you're handling the-WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO RED?!" she suddenly yelled in anger as she caught sight of the robot and android bodies on the slabs.

"It's not how it looks!" Kid cried out in total denial.

"It looks like you're downloading his consciousness into a new body" Black Canary's eyes narrowed.

There was a beep, and a small pause as the download bar finished loading, and red text flashed up on the screen saying "Download complete."

"Ok, it's pretty much exactly how it looks" Kid grinned sheepishly as Robin rolled his eyes resisting the urge to facepalm.

But before he could say anything at all, the android on the slab's eyes snapped open and cried out with Red Tornado's voice.

"Team get out of the Cave NOW!"

Black Canary's eyes widened for a moment in shock, before blasting open her mouth and letting loose a canary cry.

Robin hit the deck as Red Tornado's android body was split apart by the sheer force of the scream, the torso hitting Kid Flash and the legs hitting Rocket and Zatanna.

As soon as she'd belted it out, Robin flipped back onto the now empty slab and lunged at her. She threw each of him off quickly, sending him toppling to the ground.

As he landed, he pressed his belt buckle, and a tiny little smoke bomb which he'd planted on Canary's shoulder exploded into a haze of knockout gas in her face.

Rocket made a spherical barrier around the struggling heroin, trapping her and the smoke inside.

There were a couple of moments of frantic scrabbling inside before they heard a disoriented grunt and a thud. A hand dragged across the surface of the sphere, slowly sliding downwards as Canary fell unconscious.

"Black Canary attacked us?" Zatanna breathed staring at their fighting instructor in alarm.

"Black Canary is the least of our problems" the Android Red Tornado torso, struggled onto his elbows and looked at them all with a very stern look "We must abandon the cave."

**_Recognised: Icon 2-0, Doctor Fate 1-7, Captain Marvel 1-5_ **

But no sooner had the last numeral sounded the frantic teens were already zipping out the side of the mountain, with a bound and gagged Black Canary in the back seat.

"Phew" Robin sighed sinking back into his chair as he pulled them up higher into the air.

"Stay off your radios" Red Tornado commanded "Let the Supercycle track Superboy, instruct her to mask all signals. We cannot allow the League to track us."

"Right…of course. Just one question… WHY IS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE AFTER US?!" Kid Flash cried out angrily.

"The entire League is under the complete mental domination of Vandal Savage." Tornado explained as they flew over the harbour water. "Red Arrow seems to have been his means. His method was something Vandal referred to as Starro Tech. A vile alien organism infused with nano-technology and magic. It shuts down the mind's autonomy, allowing Savage to reprogram the individual to suit his needs. Even my  _inorganic_  brain was not immune. But the process requires 0.16 nanoseconds to integrate with its host's nervous system fully. That delay allowed me to create an internal sub-program, which would disconnect my power cells if I attempted to infect another person. Fortunately, the Starro-tech is body specific. As John Smith, I am now free of outside control."

"This Starro-tech it worked on super-powered humans, four flavours of aliens, an android and even Doctor Fate! Defeating all of you without a fight and…and..."

"Wait, hang on you don't mean-" all the colour drained from Kid's face as comprehension dawned. "Oh god no!"

"Indeed," Red Tornado admitted nodding his humanoid face suddenly looking downcast as if ashamed "a remarkable achievement. One not so easily countered but that is the least of your worries. Unfortunately, I was not able to override the programming in time to prevent Batman from capturing Swift. If I had, I can assure you I would never let it happen. I'm sorry."

Robin grit his teeth and suddenly bashed his fist against the side of the Supercycle.

"Damn it… DAMN IT!"

The others watched on silently with pity as he gripped harshly at the roots of his dark hair, roaring out his anger, anguish and aggravation.

How could he have been so stupid?! Why hadn't he listened to his guts feelings? He remembered the fearful look as Swift had turned to look back at them all before disappearing in that flash of yellow light-and now his partner was in the clutches of one of the most dangerous villains the Justice League had ever faced.

_Could this day get any worse?_

* * *

Hours passed, and still, the Super-Cycle was still tracing down Superboy's signal. Black Canary hadn't woken up from the knockout gas, but her vitals seemed stable. Robin, Kid Flash, Rocket, Zatanna and the now human faced half body of Red Tornado, however, were all silent as they mulled over their thoughts.

Zatanna and Rocket were both wondering what the hell they'd stepped into. Kid Flash was wondering if Aqualad and the team had found Red Arrow, and Robin was still seething with himself for possibly losing both his partners.

_No. Can't think like that. Focus on the mission. If the mission is a success, you'll get them both back._

The Boy Wonder shook his head out to clear it checking the Super Cycle's scanners. According to the images showing they should've been precisely in the spot Superboy's' signal was blipping.

 _Miss Martian! Miss Martian, are you in range_?

He cried out desperately in his head, hoping against hope that the Martian girl would telepathically hear him. He sighed in relief as she responded, her voice wavering slightly as she tried to hold herself together.

_Right here, Robin. Linking both squads and De-camouflaging_

And sure enough above them, the dark shadow of the red ship became visible over their heads.

_Great! Because we really need to compare notes_

As soon as the Bioship had encased the Super Cycle whole, Robin jumped out of his seat and dashed to the helm yelling in a blur of words as he rushed over to his team leader.

"AqualadSwiftsintrouble! Theleaguehasher! Savagemadethemdoithegavethem-"

"Robin calm down!" Aqualad grabbed Robin's shoulders firmly "Calm down. You're speaking too fast for anyone to comprehend. Take a deep breath-"

"Butwehavenotime-"

"Robin! Breathe!" Aqualad barked as he forced the boy wonder to sit in a chair Miss Martian had summoned.

Robin took a deep shuddering breath looking down at the floor. Everyone else just looked at him worriedly but stood away to give him space.

"That's right Robin just breathe…" Aqualad said patiently "now say what you've got to say, SLOWLY."

Robin nodded, gulping down a couple of breaths before speaking in a raspy gasp. "Red Tornado just told us that the entire Justice League was been infected by the nano-tech Starro chips we confiscated off Cheshire yesterday. He says Vandal Savage organised the whole thing. Red Tornado is now free because we were able to transfer his mind into his new body and the chips are only body specific. But he couldn't stop Batman from taking Swift! And now Vandal Savage has got her and-"

"Robin it's alright" Aqualad squeezed the younger boy's shoulders gently "Swift's fine. She's here in the bioship"

"What?" the white slits of Robin's eyes were so wide and large now. "How?"

"She escaped from Vandal Savage on her own. Red Arrow found her on the run."

"You did?" Robin looked at Red Arrow dumbfounded. The archer bristled in his seat.

"No…I didn't find her…she found me, after being chased by Hawkman, Aquaman, Green Arrow  _and_  the Flash!" he muttered folding his arms and looking down at the floor.

"Four Justice Leaguers?" Kid Flash's eyes were wider than dinner plates, "And she survived? Where is she? She's not-"

"No she's fine" Aqualad cut off quickly. "She's just exhausted from using her powers. She's resting on the starboard side."

He quickly motioned towards Miss Martian who nodded at the helm and pulled down an organic wall to reveal Christine sitting up on a long slab, the top half of her Swift-suit pooled about her waist, with only her sports bra to cover her chest.

"What the hell are you doing? You should be sleeping" Artemis, who had been sitting closest to the door, ran and hissed like a gruff mother hen. Quickly she pulled up the sheets on the slab to wrap around the younger girl's shoulders.

"I…I felt…Rob and the others…through the mind link…are…are they here?" Swift muttered in a daze as she tried to reach her toes down to the ground.

"Yes, I'm here."

Artemis jumped as Robin suddenly appeared beside her and took the sheets from her hand. He quickly secured the coverings around his partner's shoulders, trying to bite back his horror as he caught sight of the multitude of shallow scratches and dark bruises that riddled her half-naked body.

"Holy crap babe you look like you've been beaten by a steak tenderiser." Kid Flash stared stunned at the battered and bruised Girl, Wonder.

"Yeah, that's what you get when you try and escape four brainwashed superheroes." Christine sighed as she tried to comb her bed-hair down with her fingers.

"Go back to sleep" Robin gently tried pushing her to lie back on the bed, but she quickly swatted him off.

"No Rob, I've rested enough. Besides, we got work to do." she pulled up the top half of her suit, wincing as she moved her injured shoulder.

"Seriously guys, I'm okay" she grunted snatching up her cowl from the head of the cot as she gingerly stepped out into the ship.

She gave Kid Flash and Zatanna a small hug as she passed them by, before making her way over to Red Arrow's seat.

"How are you holding up?" she murmured as she put a hand over his shoulder which tensed upon the sudden contact.

"I'm fine" Red Arrow bristled not meeting her eye.

"Roy, what you went through-" She squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.

"I know what I did alright!" Red Arrow snapped swiping her hand off him "And didn't you get the memo. I'm not Roy Harper! I'm not the real Speedy. I'm not your friend."

The words stung her horribly, but she couldn't believe them-no-correction! She  _refused_  to accept them.

The rest of the team all winced as she grabbed him again by both shoulders and wheeling him around in his chair.

There was a loud  _whack_  as flesh hit flesh.

"Ouch," even Superboy was cringing as he caught sight of the magnificent red bruise blossoming over the red archer's stunned face.

"Don't you dare say that again." Christine snarled, though her yellow eyes were wet and bright. "Whatever went down between the real Speedy and the rest of us, fine it went down. But don't you think for one second that any of this changes anything of what  **we** -" she gestured to both of them and the rest of the Team "-have all been through together. You might not be the  _original_  Roy Harper, but you are still our friend. So before you go on spouting that ' _I'm not real'_  bullshit think again. You are real, you are here, and we're not giving up on you  _Roy,_  are we clear?"

Red Arrow stared up at her for a moment, then sighed heavily.

"We're clear." He mumbled turning his chair away from her and nursing his cheek, though it was clear he didn't fully believe in his own words, or hers.

Christine stepped away to give him some space, breathing hard as if she'd just run a marathon as she tried to soothe herself back to a state of calm.

She could hear his heart beating painfully fast in his chest as he stared out the front window of the bioship. He didn't believe her.

_Of course, he didn't_

She shook her head quietly to herself as she took her regular seat in front of Aqualad and beside Superboy's station. Once Roy got in a rut about something, it was difficult to pull him out.

Seeing the two of them settle down to sulk, the rest of the team deemed it safe enough to resume their seats in the Bioship.

Once they were all settled, Miss Martian decided to test the waters.

"uh…Red Arrow. I'm sorry, but how is it that you are no longer enslaved?"

_Wow, talking to Red when he's pissed, M'gann's braver than all of us?_

Robin's thought accidentally leaked through the mental link, and everyone smirked.

All save Red Arrow who looked down at his console.

"No Starro Tech for starters. Only Cadmus programming. Once I'd satisfied its last parameter, my mind began to clear. I'm sure Savage planned to Starro Tech me, but he paused to bask. I escaped."

"Typical" Kid Flash rolled his eyes only to shrink as the other redhead boy narrowed his eyes at him.

"I promise, I can clean any residual programming from your mind" Miss Martian offered kindly.

"You can do that?" Red Arrow blinked at her in surprise.

"Worked for me" Superboy grunted from his seat with folded arms "all the secret codewords the genomorphs planted in my mind are gone now."

"We'll need to land in a safe place if we are to implement such a delicate operation" Aqualad spoke calmly from his seat, fingers pressed together thoughtfully.

"We also need to find a way to remove the Starro tech from the Justice League" Christine wheeled around in her chair to face Robin, her face grim and coldly professional.

"Way ahead of you" The Boy Wonder smirked, grateful to have his partner back in the zone again. She was right; it was time to get to work.

* * *

_**Star Labs Central City, December 31 2010, 17:47 EST** _

The evening sky was already almost dark as half of the team snoozed in the bioship. They had traded in their usual stations for very soft comfortable slabs which also acted as sleeping bags as they wrapped around their occupants like purple cocoons.

They took it in turns to sleep, with five of the ten members staying awake at any given time to keep an eye on the Star Labs scientists they had wrangled to help make the cure for Starro-tech. The goings had been slow, but thankfully with a lot of perseverance and help from Red Tornado, a treatment was being synthesised.

Black Canary was to be the first test subject. After a terrifying attempt to escape the Bioship upon landing at Star Labs, the team had managed to subdue the blonde heroine once again. This time however they made use of an inhibitor collar for extra security.

None of them liked the idea of collaring and leashing their beloved fighting instructor. But what else were they to do to keep her from harming everyone (including herself) with her Canary Cry? Thankfully it wouldn't be long till they could take the collar off Canary, now that they were closer to finding a cure.

Despite all the great strides they had made in the past few hours, Kaldur could not sleep.

He turned over in his cocoon to see Christine laying in hers right beside him. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was calm, and though she still bore many scratches and bruises, she was already looking a lot better. A bit of food and sleep it seemed had helped a great deal with her recovery.

He shut his eyes, scowling as he thought over what he had said in Roy's apartment.

Some might've called him a hopeless romantic, but he always envisioned the moment he told someone he loved them to be more special, more intimate. He had not planned to shout it out to the girl he loved while his best friend aimed an arrow between his eyes while protecting her from him.

And then there was the whole mess with Tula. He had not spoken to Christine about his first love before, which was when he looked at it in hindsight, a little unfair of him. Christine had told him of Ishan, and about how she felt about him.

He sighed heavily and shook his head. What was wrong with him? The whole world was in trouble. The Justice League had turned on them, and Vandal Savage was hunting them down, and here he was, selfishly worrying his head about his relationship.

"Can't sleep?"

He opened his eyes. Christine's yellow eyes glimmered in the dark as they stared at him. He used to find them quite eerie, yet now the sight of them comforted him greatly.

"Just thinking" he whispered so as not to wake Roy, Artemis and Wally who were sleeping on the other side of the ship.

"A dangerous pastime" Christine smirked gently. "Kidding. What are you thinking about?"

"About Roy" Kaldur mumbled, "The news has shaken him far more than it did us."

"I know." Christine sighed softly "He looked so broken when I found him in his apartment. I've never seen him so frightened like that."

"Yeah…" they fell into silence.

Kaldur hated it.

One of the things he loved about his relationship with her was that their talking had always flowed so freely and smoothly between the two of them, even before they were romantically involved. Now, he found his throat stuck for any words, all because he had withheld this one little fact from her.

"About what I said at the apartment-"

"You mean when you declared you loved me in front of our angry, confused best-friend who was pointing an arrow to your face?" she tried to chuckle lightly but failed miserably.

"To be fair, you blurted your confession when we were on the phone, so I guess that makes us even," Kaldur smirked, following her attempt to keep things light and cheerful, though he too found himself wavering.

There was another awkward silence.

Christine seemed to be thinking along the same lines too because she rolled her eyes.

"Listen, I know it might be tough now, but we're here, and-and I'm willing to hear you out-"

"You wish to know more about Tula" Kaldur finished quietly.

Christine shut her mouth and nodded, blushing deep with embarrassment. She loathed feeling so jealous; it made her sick as if rumbling dragons were broiling in her belly.

But she held herself together as she shifted to her elbows to listen. She was the goddaughter of Batman. She of all people had to have control over her emotions.

"Tula was…a friend of mine, along with Garth in Atlantis" Kaldur murmured, anxiously fiddling with the webbing between his fingers. "From childhood to the Sorcerers Academy the three of us were as thick as thieves, but as the years passed and as I became Aqualad, I found myself missing Tula more than Garth. At first, I was confused, but then I slowly came to realise that-"

"That you loved her" Christine murmured, biting her lip. She knew he was only telling her the truth because she asked it of him, yet every fond word about the Atlantean girl seemed to pierce her in the heart. It took all he had to force herself to continue listening as Kaldur continued his story.

"Yes…I loved her. I thought the feelings would decrease in time, but they didn't. Absence only made my heart grow fonder, yet I stayed beside my King, fighting alongside him in the surface world. I thought that if I could return as a hero and she would accept my feelings, and we would be happy together, hence why I was so overjoyed to join my King when he finally agreed to take me to the Justice League headquarters last summer. I expected to find glory and honour. Instead, I met you."

"Biggest disappointment ever, huh?" Christine managed a small smirk

"Not at all. I felt comfortable around you almost at once, as if I had known you for years."

"Are you sure you're not talking about another girl?" Christine frowned in confusion, and despite himself, Kaldur chuckled.

"I am quite sure."

"So, you were still in love with Tula at this stage when you met me." Christine pressed on, the jealous green eels in her gut slowly but surely ebbing away as he nodded somberly.

"Yes, though I was starting to become confused. I missed Tula greatly, but whenever I was with you, I barely thought about her. Soon you were in my every thought. At first, I thought I was merely enjoying your company. But after we battled Clayface and I held you in the grotto pool, a part of me realised that I cared about you a lot more than a friend. I was too afraid to admit it to myself for I still thought I had a chance with Tula. That was until she revealed that she and Garth had both started seeing one another while I was away. Or at least that's what they told me, for I suspect they must've been in love with one another much earlier than that. I was just too blind to see it." He added bitterly.

"Kal," Christine reached out to touch his cheek.

"Forgive me" Kaldur leaned into her touch cradling her hand against his face.

"For what?" she blinked at him.

"For not telling you sooner. I didn't mean to make you worry. I guess I just wanted to avoid the pain. I was heartbroken by the truth, but in hindsight, I am glad it happened. It opened my eyes. I thought I had loved Tula when really, I had only loved the idea of her. My first love who'd wait for me no matter how long I wandered." He snorted with a scowl "you must think I sound like such an idiot."

"Don't worry; we're all a bit stupid when it comes to our dreams." Christine smiled. "I'm glad you told me. I was worried that I might've scared you off with my confession."

"You didn't." Kaldur mumbled, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards "If anything it made my day…and helped me through Wally's movie marathon."

"That bad huh?" Christine smirked, and he shook his head.

"He showed me the Little Mermaid again." Kaldur rolled his eyes irritably. It was no secret to the team just how much he had grown to detest that film with a vengeance "Except this time; he thought it would be a great idea to sing along with it to vex me. It was, how would you say it, like listening to a dying cat screech."

"Oh, you poor thing" Christine giggled as she shifted closer, only to stop short as she realised she was going to roll of her slab. However, she needn't have worried, for the Bioship, sensing her desire had fused their bed slabs together in the middle.

"Seriously I love this ship but sometimes it seriously spooks me out how intuitive it can be" Christine muttered, and Kaldur nodded.

"I agree, though I suspect that's because it takes after its true owner" Yet as he said this he didn't hesitate to scoot a little closer to her.

"I hope we can figure out a cure for this Starro tech" Christine mumbled as she settled her head back down on the lump in the slab that constituted for a pillow.

"Indeed" Kaldur frowned as he lay down on his "Who knows what havoc Vandal Savage has wrecked with the Justice League under his thumb."

"Whatever it is, it's probably terrible." She shuddered, remembering all too clearly the expression on Green Arrows face when he had captured her on that rooftop.

So devoid of emotion, so cold.

She felt an arm wrap around her and opened her eyes to see Kaldur pulling her in close. He looked just about as frightened as she felt though he tried his best not to show it.

"It's okay" she mumbled into his chest. "I'm scared too."

Kaldur didn't say anything. He just gripped her tighter in his arms, rolling over so that she draped over his chest.

"I love you" he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too" she pressed her lips against his collarbone, placing her hand over his heart. They shut their eyes.

And that's how the team found the two of them when they came to check in on them two hours later.

* * *

_**The Watchtower, December 31 2010, 23:16 EST** _

**Recognised Black Canary 1-3, Red Tornado 1-6, Red Arrow 2-1, Swift B-0-2**

The three Justice Leaguers stepped down the stairs dragging the limp and dejected form of their captive behind them.

Savage waited for them patiently as Red Arrow yanked Swift by the scruff of her neck and tossed her forwards to the ground at his new master's feet.

She lay there groaning with pain but barely able to move because of the tight bindings around her. Satisfied, Savage looked up at his minions.

"Any problems?"

Black Canary stepped forwards.

"Despite an initial setback, I was able to reinfect Red Tornado and Red Arrow."

"As well as the entire team" Red Tornado added, his voice mechanical again in his newly rebuilt red body. "They await reprogramming back on Earth."

"…I think not" Savage's eyes narrowed and at once he brought his foot down on Swift's smaller form. However, instead of the rough sole hitting the bones and flesh, it smashed only air.

Black Canary, Red Tornado and Red Arrow's eyes all widened as Swift's body vanished in a puff of smoke, the bindings all dropping to the floor, empty and useless. Savage smirked darkly.

"You see Starro Tech does not reprogram the mind; it offers us remote control over it."

"Yeah!" Everyone turned to look upwards towards the ceiling where a scrawny teenager with dark pointy hair and wearing a black suit was sitting in mid-air with an orange cat draped over his shoulders as he perused red holographic images.

"We know exactly who's infected and who's not, and NONE OF YOU ARE!"

Klarion sneered down at them all, dark eyes glinting as he flicked his hand at one of the screens. At once out of nowhere, it seemed, Hal Jordan the Green Lantern flew up to them holding out his ring from which green energy burst forth, engulfing all three Leaguers.

"But that is easily rectified" Savage smirked smugly watching them all struggle before striding forwards to circle them, new Starro Tech chips in his hands.

"Fifty thousand years of life. And nothing ever troubled me as much as the founding of the Justice League. Dedicated to maintaining societies calcified status quo. The League would protect humankind from disaster, crime, tragedy of any kind. Have you never heard of the survival of the fittest? In short, you… _heroes_ …sought to protect humanity from its glorious evolution."

He spat disgustedly down on Black Canary as he watched her absorb the chip he'd just placed in her neck.

"As such, you forced my more enlightened colleagues and myself to organise a response."

He now proceeded to place a chip into Red Tornado's metal neck.

"We created…a co-operative network of operatives. Placed key individuals in key positions-"

Red Arrow struggled, but Savage grabbed him by the roots of his hair and stuck the chip on his skin, barely even pausing in his gloating.

"-Made sure we were on the cutting edge of all new technologies. Genetic Engineering, Bio-Chemical Engineering, Robotics, Nano-Robotics even Techno-Sorcery. Not to mention every conceivable method of mind control."

Savage walked away as Green Lantern removed his green energy from the newly infected heroes, looking out over the rim of the Earth.

"Cold hard science and a little misdirection, and now you champions of stagnation have become our agents of change, forcing the human race to evolve on a more advanced schedule allowing the Earth to take its rightful place at the centre of the Cosmos."

Black Canary, Red Tornado and Red Arrow all stood up; their faces blank as Savage looked over them his face triumphant.

Then there was a cry of annoyance.

"The brats are aboard" Klarion whined watching a holographic screen, which had a multitude of icons that resembled people flicker in front of him before some of the icons completely vanished "And they've taken away four of my toys!"

"Recall all League away missions" Savage's eyes narrowed as he growled, "It's time to put these  _children_  in their place once and for all."

"FINALLY!" Klarion beamed excitedly just as his cat mewled beside him. He quickly put a hand up to scratch its head affectionately behind the ear.

"oh yeah…Hey Vandal, shouldn't those three be back online by now?!"

"What?!" Savage turned round to face the three said, heroes, just as Black Canary's eyes flashed.

Without warning, she let loose a loud canary cry that sent Hal flying and crashing into a wall.

Red Tornado and Red Arrow acted at once, each sending their attacks at Savage while Canary pressed something into Hal's neck that made him drop to the floor unconscious.

She then gave another harsh canary cry, this time aiming for Klarion who lazily summoned up a red pair of ear muffs with his powers, grinning madly.

"You'll be sorry" he hissed in an annoyingly sing-song voice as the ground beneath their feet began to shake.

Canary looked up in alarm as a bright glowing light shimmered into existence above them, growing wider and wider till it was more than three metres in diameter.

_A boom tube?_

But before she could register anything else, six figures leapt out of the glowing portal, landing on their feet in front of her. Six people, she knew all too well.

_Forgive me, guys!_

She thought as she aimed another Canary cry at her allies, but she shuddered as Martian Manhunter density shifted straight through her. She was about to grab for him when.

_Crack!_

Hawkwoman swung her mace hitting her across the face.

As Black Canary fell to the ground, Red Arrow aimed at Martian Manhunter, who promptly density shifted, so the projectile went right through him. But as it did so, the arrowhead exploded in a small spark of flame.

The Martian gasped in shock and pain as he fell to the ground unconscious.

Red Arrow rolled to the side to avoid being hit by a black Batarang and aimed a shot at the Dark Knight who deflected the arrows with his armoured gloves, before rushing at the young archer and pulling him down to knee him in his face.

As soon as he was down, The Green Lantern John Stuart caught Red Tornado in a claw made from the green energy in his ring, allowing Superman and Wonder Woman to tear off both arms and legs, before throwing him to the floor to join his comrades.

Savage glowered down at his attackers, fury bubbling up again from within.

"The children have reverse engineered a Starro tech cure and vaccine, so there's no point in taking them alive."

"Goody," Klarion sneered excitedly. "And the little girl birdy?"

"As soon as you find her…bring her to me alive and unspoiled." Savage said, more towards the mind-wiped heroes than anyone else "We still need her, for phase two."

* * *

_Oh no not again!_

Swift puffed as she pulled up short in mid-air in front of another dead end.

There was a swooshing noise as a blue-suited, red-caped figure floated up behind her.

She quickly turned and aimed a birdarang at Superman who promptly dodged before firing his heat vision from his eyes. Swift flew to the side, and the Kryptonian followed her with his (literally) scorching gaze, the rays of heat carving a hole in the wall, before trailing after her. It was a close shave as the red beams of heat almost seared a hole through her mechanical wings.

Swift grunted as she collided into a corner of the ceiling before crying out as Superman grabbed her roughly by the arm and flinging her downwards, so she fell through the floor, down to the level below.

It was a good thing she had her wings to protect her because she was sure she would've died from the impact.

She had no time to be relieved as she fell out into another corridor where someone grabbed her by the arm and caught her securely in a tight hold. She heard his ragged breaths, smelt the familiar musky scent, felt the hard clasp of armour beneath a suit and saw the black-gloved hands make to cover her mouth.

She bit down on Batman's fingers hard as they slapped over her lips. With a small grunt of discomfort, he jerked slightly away allowing her to fly upwards.

Swift hesitated as she took in the sight of her mentor, who glared up at her with such venom and darkness that she almost felt her eyes begin to water.

_I'm sorry Dad…_

She gulped down her anguish and gritted her teeth as she gripped her war fans in each hand.

_But you leave me no choice!_

She sliced forwards with the fans aiming for both his arms. He dodged rolling to the side and flinging two batarangs at her. She quickly deflected them just as he leapt up to aim an aerial punch.

She grabbed him by the arm and tried to use his momentum to swing him away from her, but he anticipated her actions quickly and grabbed her shoulder, before flinging himself and her down to the ground.

They landed with several thuds as they skidded across the ground of a balcony overlooking the Watchtower's gardens.

Swift struggled as Batman tried to pin her down on the floor, grabbing her hands and holding them down beside her shoulders. She winced as her damaged shoulder and her wrist painfully crunched.

_"_ _I won't release him. Not until I make him kill you, torture you, in every single most horrific, sadistic and vulgar way he knows you fear. And then when he's done, I'll wake him up just long enough to see his good work and I being the merciful man I am, will end his suffering by snapping his neck just as he breaks."_

Swift's eyes flashed brightly as hot anger flared up inside her. Deftly she broke free one of her hands and reached into her utility belt.

_LIKE BLOODY HELL I'LL LET YOU, SAVAGE!_

_Fsssssssssst!_

Batman's grip slackened as he spluttered and choked as Swift delivered a decent spray of her aerosol deodorant into his face.

Of course, his eyes were covered, so his vision was not impaired, but it was enough distraction for her to deliver a solid punch to his square jaw.

The Dark Knight reeled off her, overwhelmed by the ferocity that had suddenly arisen in his protégé, as she proceeded to deliver the fiercest, sharpest and fastest kicks and punches she could, trying to aim for all the weak points she knew were in his armour.

Eventually, he recovered enough to fling her away, but instead of hitting the wall and crumpling like he'd intended she'd used her wings and her super breath to force herself back to hover in the air and fly away. He growled in frustration and ran after her.

 _Rob, where are you?_  Swift hissed across the mental link as she flew out of the way of a flying Batarang being aimed at her from behind.

 _I'm outside next to the garden with Rocket._  Robin grunted

_Good. That means your close! Tagged anyone yet?_

Swift saw a bright light in front of her and smelt the fresh smells of grass and greenery.

_Just finishing up with Hawkwoman and Green Lantern. Why?_

_Because I'm bringing the party to you._

She wheeled around and aimed what appeared to be a small grenade in the palm of her hands. It wasn't any ordinary grenade. This was a new, unique weapon invented developed at Star Labs with a small black pin and strange ice blue lines over the side.

She threw it down at Batman's feet and smirked as it exploded with a flash of cold and bright blue light.

The Dark Knight, who was still running behind her was forced to slow down his pace as his boots slid smoothly over the floor which was now entirely covered in slippery ice.

Swift couldn't help the smirk that flashed over her face,

_Ha! Have fun with that Dad!_

She flew down off the edge of a balcony down to a lower level where she saw Robin and Rocket standing in front of Wonder Woman who was currently trying to bash her way against the latter's force field.

_Can she escape your force bubble?_

Swift asked as she came level with her teammates.

_Not if she keeps punching it!_

Rocket frowned as she held out her arms to keep up the force field as Robin dashed to an unconscious John Stuart.

_The kinetic energy only makes it stronger, but I'm stuck here! Anything I do risks freeing her!_

_LOOK OUT!_

Robin cried as the Batman's dark shadow leapt down upon them from the story above.

He aimed a punch at both his protégé's who flipped over him, before throwing a punch at Rocket who flew up into the air.

The Dark Knight turned on Swift and Robin who both straightened up, the latter flinging down a handful of smoke pellets.

All three of them charged inside, Batman managing to tag Swift on the jaw sending her flying out of the cloud and right into Rocket and Miss Martian who were both still trying to subdue Wonder Woman.

The bluish force bubble around the Amazon disappeared, and with a loud war cry, she lunged. She knocked Miss Martian into a pillar before aiming for the other two girls. Swift pushed Rocket out of the way before flying up and out of reach. Wonder Woman followed, eyes blazing as she un-looped her lasso from around her waist and spun it around.

"GHAH!" Swift cried out as she felt the familiar pain as bones splintered within her already injured wrist as she was spun around in a circle. She shut her eyes to stop herself from getting dizzy and even though it hurt a hell of a lot, she grabbed the lasso with her broken wrist for dear life.

Then she felt the wind changed around her as her body was pulled down fast. She opened her eyes in time to see Wonder Woman's face coming closer. She gritted her teeth.

_Here goes!_

_KATHWACK!_

The Amazon's head flew back as the Girl wonder's uppercut hit the underside of her jaw. Swift felt her fingers break on her uninjured hand and grunted as she thrust it forwards to deliver a second strike which hit Wonder Woman in the gut, bringing her head and neck back towards her.

Quickly she slapped a hand on the back of the older woman's neck, the chip in it instantly sinking into her flawless flesh.

Her grip on the lasso lessened as did its hold on Swift's wrist.

"F***K! Holy crap, that hurt!" The girl wonder pulled away, nursing her broken limb as Wonder Woman hit the floor with a dull thud.

"Swift! Miss M! Rocket!"

She looked up as Robin and Superboy jumped down from the level above, just as the other two girls came too.

"M'gann are you ok?" the super clone ran to his girlfriend to help her up.

"I…I am fine" She smiled meekly.

"Nice hit" Rocket grinned at Swift who gave a small smile but winced as Robin took hold of her uninjured hand.

"Come on…let's get back to the others" he smiled as he began dragging her back towards the corridor, the others following at a small distance.

Five minutes later they arrived in the main hall where Artemis, Kid Flash and Aqualad were standing around the broken body of Red Tornado just as the voice of the Justice League computer systems announced.

**_Happy New Year: Justice League_ **

There was a little  _ping_ , and little midi music began to play in the background they all looked up to see a large hologram above them. It read.

**January 1, 00:00 EST**

There were small scuffling of cloth as everyone paired off for their new year's kiss; Superboy and Miss Martian, Kid Flash and Artemis, Rocket and Zatanna, who both had kissed Robin on both cheeks.

Aqualad barely had time to register what was going on when he felt a small hand reach for the back of his head and pull him down to kiss a soft pair of lips.

"Happy New Year Kaldur" Swift smirked as he blushed with surprise.

Red Tornado, who was still on the floor, sighed bemusedly.

"Human customs still elude me."

The team laughed.

Swift giggled into Kaldur's hold, wrapping her free arm around his neck and pulling him in closer as his tongue slithered into her mouth to tangle with hers.

They broke apart, as they heard many thundering feet approaching.

"Ah…" Swift gulped.

"Oh crap" Robin agreed from where he had his arms wrapped around Zatanna and Rocket's shoulders as they all turned to see the entire League standing in one doorway, Batman at the front his eyes wide.

The whole team flushed red as the Dark Knight straightened up and narrowed his eyes at all of them.

"Start talking"

* * *

Swift was down in the conference room in the Watchtower, one arm in a sling, the other supporting her head as she fought to keep herself awake on the table. It had been tough. She felt like she'd used up more energy in that one day then she had for the entire year. She barely heard what was going on with Red Arrow and the clone/mole business and only snorted up to attention when something bright flashed in front of her.

She stared blearily at the holo-screens Robin had pulled up in front of her and Batman as he talked them through their next agenda. All three of them were showing pictures of Martian Manhunter, Hawkwoman, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern (John Stuart).

"The entire league was under Savage's spell for just over a day. We've accounted for most of that time, but these six went missing for a full sixteen hours we  _can't_  account for."

"Sixteen hours…" Batman rumbled eyes narrowing. "What did we do?"

_Thump!_

The dark knight turned sharply looking down on his protégé whose head had just landed on the table.

"Well…we certainly didn't sleep as soundly as this"

Aquaman chortled good-naturedly along with Robin, Aqualad and Captain Marvel as Swift began snoring lightly.

Had this been under normal circumstances Batman would've probably glared them all down by now, but for once he was too exhausted to keep up his dark image. Instead, he gently placed his hand on top of her head and stroked through the long white locks.

"How much energy did she use up?" he asked quietly.

"Nearly all of it I fear," Aqualad muttered frowning slightly.

"Yeah" Robin nodded gravely "Actually that is the second time she's done that today."

"Second time?" Batman's eyes widened, his fingers stilling in her hair.

"Yes. The first time was right after you, and I handed her to Vandal Savage" Red Tornado, who had been sitting silently beside Captain Marvel piped in, unperturbed by the sudden paleness of Batman's face. "During that time, she struggled with him and escaped on her own, before successfully eluding capture by Green Arrow, Flash, Hawkman and Aquaman."

Aquaman shuddered and hung his head in shame as he felt the Bat's eyes boring into him angrily.

"From what data I've managed to salvage off the Starro-Tech chips," Red Tornado continued calmly "Savage was trying to capture Swift."

"Do you happen to know why he did that?" Robin asked quickly exchanging a worried look with Aqualad again.

"I am…unsure…" Tornado paused as if thinking "He did not want to kill her. He didn't want her to be put in harm's way at all. But unfortunately for him, he underestimated Swift when she fought back, and the principle of the orders changed. He still wanted to capture Swift alive, but this time he'd allow us to use force, just as long as she didn't die in the process."

There was a tiny grunt, and Red Tornado stopped speaking as Swift's head lolled to the side.

"Wally…give me back my sandwich" she grumbled frowning grumpily before snoring loudly again, her mouth cracking slightly open.

But nobody laughed. Nobody dared move a muscle. They just continued watching Swift as she dreamed entirely oblivious to their presences. Finally, Batman sighed.

"This is bad…"

"Indeed." Aquaman's face softened as he saw his colleague's worried face "The fact that our enemy was so intent on capturing one of our young ones is a great worry."

"Sorry, Aquaman but I disagree, It's not the fact that she's young that makes this matter more serious" Tornado leant forwards in his seat "It's the fact that despite the fact her powers are underdeveloped our enemies still seem to know more about them than we do. And worse still, that they seem to be planning something to do with them as they did with Superboy."

"Not on my watch!" Robin stood up quickly glaring down all of them.

"Agreed" Aqualad rose up too. "Our enemies may plot and scheme, but we'll be damned if we let them take one of our own"

Beneath the mask, Batman's eyebrows rose high. He looked between the two teens who were both looking alert and ready for action.

He sighed, hiding his smirk of pride behind a hand as he stood up himself.

"We will adjourn this discussion for later. For now, we all need to rest. You have done well. You all have."

* * *

_**Wayne Manor, January 1 2010, 04:59 EST** _

Christine sighed as she looked up at the ceiling of her four-poster bed.

_This is so not my year!_

She grimaced as she shifted her head, accidentally moving her bandaged hand in the process, to look at the window to her room where a dark shadow was perched birdlike on the sill.

She smiled as she caught sight of the golden owl goggles on the cowl.

"Hey." She swung her legs over the side of her bed.

"Hey yourself." Her father's voice murmured from beneath the cowl as he hopped down from the window to hug her as she came close.

She winced as her injured hand accidentally got crushed in the embrace.

"What happened to your hand?" Hallows junior reached out to inspect the damaged limb.

"Broke it when punching Wonder Woman in the face" Christine grinned, preening herself with pride, despite the pain.

"Seriously?" Her father smirked, and she nodded, her whole body deflating tiredly.

"I know it sounds so badass, but honestly papa, it was just a lucky shot. Nothing more."

"Somehow I doubt that" Hallows junior's amused chuckles were quick to fade away as he looked down on her. She was looking incredibly nervous.

"I assume you called me here for a reason?" he murmured into the dark, glancing at her bed.

On it, he could see a white owl mask shining in the light of the cold moon atop the dark purple sheets.

He looked back at his daughter and saw to his horror the sad expression spreading over her young face.

"No-no. You can't-" his eyes widened in dismay.

"I'm sorry Papa" Christine took a step back, her yellow eyes fixed on his black boots. "But it's the only way-"

"NO!" he hissed grabbing her shoulders "You can't join the Court! You just can't!"

"Papa! You don't understand" Christine shook her head I've nearly died four times in the past six months alone. I've been stabbed, shot at, electrocuted, molested, almost cloned and almost drowned! I thought I could deal with that, but today I almost lost everyone I cared about, and all because I wasn't strong enough to protect them-"

"But you have protected them-" Stuart Hallows' grip on her shoulders tightened like a vice "And you don't need your grandfather to become stronger. There's always another way."

"Maybe." Christine sucked in a deep breath as she forced herself to look up into the masked face. "But none of them will give me the opportunity to take down the Court of Owls."

"What?" Hallows junior stared at her dumbstruck.

"Papa, I'm not an idiot. The Court of Owls isn't a peacekeeping society; it's a Cabal. One that has been pulling strings behind the scenes and bit by bit warping everything into its twisted image. If it's not stopped soon, the whole world will be in danger of falling into its hands without even knowing it. Heck, Grandpa is already trying to turn me so that I can compromise the Justice League."

"And you think  _you_  can stop him?" Hallows Junior growled softly "You're just fourteen Christine. Yes, you've done some amazing things as a hero, but this is your grandfather, you're talking about. And unlike many of your other foes, he is no fool."

Despite herself, Christine shivered as her father leaned in to whisper into her face.

"He was inducted into the world of crime since before he could walk or talk. By the time he was your age, he was already an assassin prodigy. When he was eighteen, he killed both his parents and took control of the ENTIRE Court, and for fifty-five years he has stayed in command, with no opposition whatsoever. And you think you could destabilize his empire on your own like that?"

He clicked his fingers in her face, and she scowled.

"Yes." She snapped, tugging his hand back down. "Because unlike  _you_  papa, I'm not afraid of him anymore."

"Well, you should be" Stuart Junior muttered frustratedly. "Because there are some battles you cannot win alone."

"I know, but I'm not going to be alone." Christine narrowed her yellow eyes fiercely at him "You're going to help me."

"Christine…I-I can't-" her father shook his head with a sigh, but she was having none of it.

"And why not?" she gripped his gloved hand tighter "I know you Papa, you're a good person, and you said yourself that you never wanted to be a Talon."

"What about your friends? Your boyfriend? Dick, Bruce and Alfred?" he said quickly, but she steamrolled over him just as swiftly.

"This isn't their battle. Besides, Grandpa would kill them if they even knew a hint of what was going on."

He turned his masked face away from her as he tried and failed to find an argument. Besides, how could he argue when she was right? He never wanted this life in the shadows. He never wanted to be his father's puppet.

Yet, if he did try to take the grandmaster down and he failed…

His horrible thoughts were interrupted as his daughter suddenly said:

"Fine. Fine. I get it. You don't want to risk losing me to grandpa. But I'm still going to bring him down, whether you're with me or not." Christine gulped down the lump in her throat hard. Every word hurt as it escaped her lips as if she were throwing up sharp knives, and as she turned around, she felt like a spear had pierced her straight through her spine.

She reached for the white owl mask on the bed, turning it over to reveal the small black commlink hidden on the left side, only for a hand to grab it from her suddenly.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" her father whispered.

She looked up at him and saw to her surprise that he had taken off the Talon mask. His brown hair and eyes gazed down at her with a mixture of sadness and fear, which only heightened as she nodded her head silently.

"I've never been so sure about anything else in my entire life." She stared at the white mask, trailing her fingers down the embossed beak.

"When Grandpa was outside my pod he said I would be a weapon that would bring down empires, that I would bring the Court out of the shadows and into the light. And he was right. I will bring down his empire, and I will destroy the Court of Owls. It might take me a long time, heck, it might take me years, but I'll do whatever it takes. Because this is my real mission."

There was a silence as father and daughter stared one another down. Brown met yellow neither one flinching or backing down. Meanwhile outside the moon shone brightly in the cold winter sky, and an icy gust flowed into the room, chilling it.

And still Christine Hallows continued to stare at her father, yellow-orange eyes determined and fierce as her father slowly but surely crumbled.

"Very well" he sighed softly into the night "I will help you. But I have conditions."

He took a step towards her and gripped onto both her hands, injured and uninjured, tight.

"You follow my lead and do exactly as I say. You may have experience fighting crime, but I've had to live crime all my life. If I tell you to back down, you back down. If I tell you to run, you run. If something goes wrong, and our operation is compromised, you will go to Bruce and the Justice League, and you will tell them everything. Are we clear?"

"…we're clear" Christine nodded hesitantly gulping as he finally let her hold the mask up to her face before quickly slipping his cowl back on his head.

"Do not hesitate. Remain firm no matter what." He muttered quietly "If you show him weakness he will strike."

Christine sucked in a deep breath and put the mask on, clicking on the hidden commlink at the side.

_God, I hope this works, god I hope this works._

"Take a deep breath" her father murmured behind her.

But before she could even inhale one atom of fresh air, there was a blip in her ear, and the commlink finally patched through to the other end.

"Have you made your decision?" a deep, gravelly voice hissed in her ear.

"Yes, grandpapa. I have"

"And?"

She bit her lip glancing sidelong at her father, and though she tried to squash it down, she couldn't help the small icy chill that flew down her spine.

"And I have a few conditions." She coughed turning back to stare out the window at the sky. "Firstly, while I am joining the uh… _the family business_ , I am not quitting my team or the Justice League. But that doesn't mean I'll give you information on them either." She added before her grandfather could butt in. "this is just strictly training, to become stronger."

"I understand." Her grandfather said quietly, though she could almost feel him seething into her ear as he forced himself to say oh-so-benevolently "Are there any other conditions I should know of?"

"Yes, my father will be the only one who trains me. I will trust no one else, and you will leave  _ALL_  my  _friends_ alone. Do these three things, and I will join you."

There was a heart-stopping pause in which Christine could feel her father shifting nervously beside her. He put a hand on her back, rubbing circles as the pause dragged on for almost a full minute.

Then suddenly there was a sigh on the other end.

"Very well. I agree to your terms-"

_Thank god._

"-On one condition of my own."

_Crap._

She thought, though her voice was steady as she responded.

"Name it."

"I will leave your friends be if you swear to never tell a living soul about the Court, or your father, or me. If you should betray this family, for any reason, there will be repercussions. You understand?"

"I understand" She nodded reaching back to hold her father's hand as she stared at his and hers reflections in the mirror.

There, in it, a tall, dark shadow stood, with staring blank golden-goggled eyes and dark armour that shimmered faintly in the dark. In front, a white masked nightmare with soulless black pits for eyes stood in a long white nightdress. She had white hair and skin as pale as the moonlight outside with a white bony claw-like hand that was resting beside her ear as a voice hissed into it with all the venom of a serpent's forked tongue.

"Then it is settled. Welcome to the Court of Owls, Christine Evelyn Hallows. I expect great things from you in the future…very great things indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. The final chapter of Swift Ascension Remastered! WHOO! FINALLY MADE IT TOO THE END!
> 
> This is it, folks, this is what we've been building up to all this time. Christine Hallows (aka Swift) has joined the Court of Owls! DUN-DUN-DUUUN! She might not be technically betraying her team or IS SHE? :0 You'll have to wait for the sequel to see ;)
> 
> Speaking of the sequel now that the plot has been dovetailed neatly, I can FINALLY move onto writing it. The first couple of chapters are already up under the name Young Injustice - Agents of CRIME which I am excited about getting back on track.
> 
> Personally, I am much happier with this version of the story. I'm enjoying pushing Christine towards the dark side. When I first wrote her in the original fic, she was the typical Girl Wonder falls in love with Boy Wonder perfect partner, who could do no wrong. Now, however, I feel much freer to write about her from many different angles. She has more conflict in her life and is innately more morally grey than the rest of her team. I also enjoyed writing about the Court of Owls. It felt like such a shame that we don't see them in the YJ universe (Earth-16), it would have so much potential seeing as they made such exciting villains in the comics.
> 
> Anyways, thanks to all the support and faves and I hope you guys enjoyed this fic. If you did enjoy this fic remember to review with your thoughts and I hope you enjoy the sequel too.
> 
> Adios friends,
> 
> FuzzyBeta


	27. SEQUEL IS UP!!!

HI GUYS!

ME THE AUTHOR AGAIN.

So here it is, the title and summary for the new sequel fic, which already has the first two chapters up.

* * *

**Young Injustice - Arkham's Agents of C.R.I.M.E**

_When the first phase of their plan went up in smoke, The Light decided they needed to up the ante. Enter the Agents of C.R.I.M.E. (Covert Reconnaissance and Intelligence Militia Enforcers), the proteges of Arkham's most villainous Rogues. Will these Agents fulfil their destiny and defeat the Team? Or will they find a higher calling beyond the Light? It's time to find out. (rated T)_

* * *

I had originally intended it to be an idea for a fanfiction set in the Batman Arkham Games Universe (which later became the fic, Arkham Secrets). In fact, it includes an OC from that fic, Mina Poole who will be in this story as well. And though her personality and backstory will be somewhat similar this will be a different version of her (much like how comic characters vary between each Alternate universe).

The story will be set between Seasons 1 and 2 of YJ, somewhere in the middle of the 5-year gap and will be a sequel to Swift Ascenscion and include OC's and characters (though it won't focus heavily on Swift). Unlike Swift Ascenscion, Young Injustice will probably be darker as will it's new team. I won't say any more except that I hope you all enjoy reading when I upload the prologue and the first chapter.

Anyways, till next time readers.

Your Author

Fuzzybeta

**Author's Note:**

> So there we have it. Chapter 1 of the Swift Ascension reboot is up. Apart from word editing, not too many major changes to be seen plotwise in this chapter because I was anyways always quite happy with the first two chapters in the original. Once we pass the first two eps you'll probably start seeing more of the major changes I talked about.
> 
> So, Swift's original outfit has been changed. The purple leotard just wasn't working for me anymore, plus I've kinda been watching Batman Beyond again and I always dug the simplicity of Terry's Batsuit, (simple black with a red bat). Because of that I kinda modelled swift's new look on that. Also, I figured it'd fit in better with her role as a stealth agent if her costume was mostly black and didn't reveal any of her face (because let's face it, domino masks don't really hide much do they?)
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed and please review for more.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> FuzzyBeta.


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